what are the causes of natural disasters essay

Natural Disasters Essay

Natural Disasters Essay – Introduction

Natural disasters are powerful and dangerous events that are caused by nature. Disasters happen suddenly with little or no warning and cause severe damage to people, property, and the entire environment. It can be earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. This essay will further elaborate in detail on natural disasters.

Today, natural disasters are becoming increasingly common. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the number of disasters in the United States has tripled since the 1960s. It can be because of climate change, population growth, and urbanization. And as the Earth’s climate becomes warmer, such natural disasters will become more common.

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There are three levels of natural disasters: small, medium, and large-scale. The events that do not cause too much harm in the world are small-scale, like lightning, storms, etc. Medium Scale disasters are riskier and more harmful than small-scale disasters, like blizzards or landslides. Meanwhile, professionals who  write papers for money often analyze the impact of large-scale disasters, which cause significant environmental damage, including tsunamis, wildfires, etc.  The disasters that cause too much environmental damage, such as tsunamis, wildfires, etc., are large-scale disasters.

This natural disasters essay will talk about the types of natural disasters as well their causes and impacts.

List of Natural Disasters

Some common natural disasters, along with their nature of impact and consequences, are provided in the table below:

Types of Natural Disasters

There are different ways that natural disasters can happen. Some of the types are as follows,

Internal: It includes all the disasters that happen when there are some changes under the earth’s surface. These include earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, etc. We cannot easily predict these events.

External: It is when there is a disturbance above the earth’s surface. It is generally because of us humans who change the environment. These are usually landslides, floods, etc.

Temperature: When the temperature of the air or ocean changes, it can cause disasters like tornadoes and hurricanes. Even drought and glacier melt occurs because of the change in temperature of the environment.

Biological: These disasters occur because of viruses and bacteria that cause harmful diseases that can kill people. For instance, COVID-19, Ebola virus, etc., are some examples.

Causes of Natural Disasters

There are different causes for each natural disaster.

• Too much rain can overfill the dams and flood a large area near the dam. It can cause damage to nearby buildings and homes.
• When a storm forms over the ocean due to warm water, it is known as a Hurricane. There are also strong winds that can push the ocean water to the seashore and cause floods.
• Tornadoes form when two different air temperatures clash, i.e., damp air from the ground collides with dry air from above. It creates a spiral of air that can be very powerful.
• When two pieces of the Earth’s crust move against each other, it creates vibrations that we can feel on the ground. As these vibrations are too strong, they can cause buildings to fall and cause damage.
• Volcanoes are mountains that release hot gasses, ash, and lava from below the earth’s surface to the above ground.

Natural Disasters Effects

Natural disasters can have long-term impacts, including economic and social disruption, displacement, and health problems. The severity of the disaster depends on factors such as the event’s intensity, location, and effectiveness of the disaster management system.

Material and financial loss, social unrest, and political instability are common impacts of natural disasters. Homelessness and a lack of access to basic necessities can occur after a natural disaster, leading to social disruption and decreased economic activity.

Emotional and psychological damage, as well as long-term health problems, can result from natural disasters. Air pollution can cause respiratory problems, and trauma and stress can lead to mental health issues.

Natural disasters can also impact the environment, causing soil erosion, water pollution, and a decrease in biodiversity. These impacts can have long-term consequences and require efforts for recovery and rebuilding.

Natural Disaster Management

It’s really important to be ready for natural disasters and keep ourselves safe. Countries that are ready to face natural disasters have to suffer less damage. So, governments should have disaster management policies for prevention, response, and recovery. Here are a few precautions we can take for some common natural disasters:

Earthquake Preparedness

• Building strong structures so they don’t break during earthquakes.
• Creating early warning systems that can alert people before an earthquake happens.
• Educating people about the dangers of earthquakes and what to do when they happen.

Hurricane Preparedness

• Developing evacuation plans and identifying safe locations to stay during a hurricane.
• Establishing systems to provide early warnings and updates on approaching hurricanes.
• Ensuring proper drainage systems to mitigate flooding caused by heavy rain during hurricanes.

Flood Preparedness

• Implementing measures to manage water flow and prevent flooding.
• Educating individuals on flood risks and providing guidance on evacuation procedures.
• Creating emergency response plans to provide immediate assistance during and after a flood.

Wildfire Preparedness

• Promoting fire safety practices and educating individuals on the prevention of wildfires.
• Clearing dry leaves and vegetation around homes to reduce fire risks.
• Cooperating with firefighting agencies and having evacuation plans in place during wildfire emergencies.

Tsunami Preparedness

• Raising awareness about tsunamis and educating coastal communities on evacuation routes.
• Establishing warning systems near coastal areas to provide early alerts for tsunamis.
• Conducting drills and exercises to ensure that individuals know how to respond to a tsunami.

Volcano Preparedness

• Monitoring volcanic activities and studying eruption patterns to predict volcanic eruptions.
• Establishing communication systems to disseminate timely warnings about volcanic eruptions.
• Collaborating with scientists and experts to develop evacuation plans and safe zones during volcanic emergencies.

Overall Disaster Management

Individuals should develop personal emergency plans and be aware of the risks of different types of disasters. Governments and individuals can be better prepared to respond to natural disasters by having emergency plans. Thus, taking these precautions can lower the risk of disasters and protect ourselves and our communities.

Conclusion – Natural Disasters Essay

Natural disasters can cause immense destruction, pain, and loss of life. So, to lessen the impacts of these disasters, taking disaster management measures is necessary.

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Cause & Effect Essay: Natural Disasters and Their Causes

Natural disasters happen all over the world, and they can be utterly devastating for people’s lives and the environments in which they live. Although natural disasters are caused by nature and there is nothing that we can do to prevent them happening, there are many different natural causes that lead to natural disasters, and being aware of these causes enables us to be better prepared when such disasters do arrive.

One common natural disaster is flooding, which occurs when a river bursts its banks and the water spills out onto the floodplain. This is far more likely to happen when there is a great deal of heavy rain, so during very wet periods, flood warnings are often put in place. There are other risk factors for flooding too: steep-sided channels cause fast surface run-off, while a lack of vegetation or woodland to both break the flow of water and drink the water means that there is little to slow the floodwater down. Drainage basins of impermeable rock also cause the water to run faster over the surface.

Earthquakes are another common natural disaster that can cause many fatalities. The movements of the plates in the earth’s crust cause them. These plates do not always move smoothly and can get stuck, causing a build-up of pressure. It is when this pressure is released that an earthquake occurs. In turn, an earthquake under the water can also cause a tsunami, as the quake causes great waves by pushing large volumes of water to the surface.

Tsunamis can also be caused by underwater volcanic eruptions. Volcanic eruptions are another natural disaster, and they are caused by magma escaping from inside the earth. An explosion takes place, releasing the magma from a confined space, which is why there are often also huge quantities of gas and dust released during a volcanic eruption. The magma travels up the inside of the volcano, and pours out over the surrounding area as lava.

One of the most common natural disasters, but also one of the most commonly forgotten, is wildfires. These take place in many different countries all over the world, particularly during the summer months, and can be caused by a range of different things. Some of the things that can start the wildfires can be totally natural, while others can be manmade, but the speed at which they spread is entirely down to nature. The two natural causes of wildfires are the sun’s heat and lightning strikes, while they can also be caused by campfires, smoking, fireworks and many other things. The reasons that they spread so quickly are prolonged hot, dry weather, where the vegetation dries out, which is why they often take place in woodland.

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From the towering walls of water that sweep across coastlines to the ground-shaking tremors that ripple through the earth’s surface, natural disasters are a stark reminder of the immense power of nature and the fragility of our existence. These catastrophic events strike without warning, leaving in their wake a trail of destruction, displacement, and heartbreak.

Table of Content

Types of Natural Disasters

Causes of natural disasters, precautions and preparedness, 500 words essay on natural disasters.

Natural disasters can take many forms, each with its unique characteristics and consequences. Some of the most devastating types include:

1. Earthquakes: Triggered by the sudden release of energy within the Earth’s crust, earthquakes can cause massive structural damage, trigger tsunamis, and disrupt vital infrastructure.

2. Tsunamis: Towering waves generated by underwater earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, tsunamis can inundate coastal regions with incredible force, sweeping away everything in their path.

3. Hurricanes and Cyclones: These powerful rotating storm systems, fueled by warm ocean waters, bring destructive winds, torrential rain, and storm surges that can devastate entire communities.

4. Floods : Caused by excessive rainfall, melting snow, or dam failures, floods can submerge vast areas, disrupting lives and destroying property.

5. Wildfires: Driven by dry conditions, high winds, and human activities, wildfires can consume vast swaths of land, threatening lives, homes, and natural habitats.

6. Volcanic Eruptions: The explosive release of molten rock, ash, and gases from the Earth’s interior can bury entire regions in a blanket of destruction.

7 . Droughts : Prolonged periods of abnormally low rainfall can lead to water scarcity, crop failures, and even famine in some regions.

While some natural disasters are triggered by geological processes deep within the Earth, others are influenced by human activities and the changing climate. Factors such as deforestation, urbanization, and the burning of fossil fuels can increase the risk and intensity of certain disasters.

Climate change, in particular, is playing an increasingly significant role in the frequency and severity of many natural disasters. Rising global temperatures are contributing to more intense hurricanes, prolonged droughts, and the melting of glaciers and ice sheets, which can exacerbate coastal flooding.

The impact of natural disasters can be catastrophic, affecting every facet of human life and the environment. Some of the most significant effects include:

1. Loss of Life: Natural disasters can claim countless lives, leaving families and communities devastated by the loss of loved ones.

2. Destruction of Infrastructure: Roads, bridges, buildings, and critical infrastructure can be severely damaged or destroyed, hampering relief efforts and hindering recovery.

3. Economic Losses: The damage caused by natural disasters can result in staggering economic losses, affecting businesses, industries, and entire economies.

4. Displacement of Populations: Disasters often force people to abandon their homes and seek shelter elsewhere, leading to humanitarian crises and long-term displacement.

5. Environmental Degradation: Natural disasters can disrupt ecosystems, pollute water sources, and contribute to soil erosion and habitat loss, threatening biodiversity and natural resources.

6. Psychological Trauma: Survivors of natural disasters often grapple with the psychological toll, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety.

While it is impossible to prevent many natural disasters, proactive measures can be taken to mitigate their impact and enhance preparedness. Some of these measures include:

1. Effective Early Warning Systems: Developing and implementing robust early warning systems can provide valuable lead time for evacuation and emergency response efforts.

2. Disaster Risk Reduction: Identifying and addressing vulnerabilities through measures such as land-use planning, building codes, and infrastructure improvements can minimize potential damages.

3. Community Preparedness: Educating and empowering communities on disaster preparedness, including emergency plans, evacuation routes, and survival skills, can save lives and facilitate quicker recovery.

4. Resilient Infrastructure: Investing in resilient infrastructure, such as earthquake-resistant buildings and flood control systems, can reduce the impact of natural disasters.

5. Environmental Protection: Conserving and restoring natural ecosystems, such as wetlands and forests, can act as natural buffers against certain disasters and mitigate their effects.

6. International Cooperation: Fostering global partnerships and collaborations can facilitate knowledge-sharing, resource allocation, and coordinated response efforts during disasters.

Throughout human history, civilizations have grappled with the unpredictable and often merciless power of nature. Natural disasters, ranging from earthquakes and tsunamis to hurricanes and wildfires, have left indelible scars on communities worldwide, reminding us of our fragility in the face of nature’s might.

At their core, natural disasters are events triggered by the Earth’s natural processes, such as tectonic shifts, atmospheric disturbances, or geological phenomena. However, their consequences extend far beyond the physical realm, profoundly impacting lives, livelihoods, and the very fabric of societies.

The destructive force of these events is unparalleled. Earthquakes can reduce towering structures to rubble in mere seconds, while hurricanes and cyclones unleash winds of incredible ferocity, capable of obliterating entire coastlines. Wildfires, fueled by dry conditions and strong winds, consume everything in their path, leaving smoldering landscapes and displaced communities in their wake.

The human toll of natural disasters is staggering. Lives are tragically lost, families are torn apart, and survivors are left to grapple with the psychological trauma of witnessing such overwhelming devastation. Beyond the immediate loss of life, the aftermath often brings a cascade of challenges, including displacement, lack of access to essential resources, and the daunting task of rebuilding shattered communities.

The economic impact of natural disasters is equally profound. Infrastructure is crippled, businesses are disrupted, and entire industries can be brought to a standstill. The ripple effects of these events can reverberate throughout local and global economies, hampering recovery efforts and exacerbating existing vulnerabilities.

Moreover, the environmental consequences of natural disasters are far-reaching. Ecosystems are disrupted, delicate habitats are destroyed, and biodiversity is threatened as species struggle to adapt to the altered landscapes. The long-term effects on the natural world can be felt for generations, further compounding the challenges faced by impacted communities.

Addressing the threat posed by natural disasters requires a multifaceted approach that spans prevention, preparedness, and resilience-building efforts. Investing in robust early warning systems, fortifying infrastructure, and promoting disaster risk reduction strategies are crucial steps in minimizing the impact of these events.

Furthermore, addressing the underlying drivers of climate change is paramount, as many natural disasters are exacerbated by the effects of global warming. By transitioning towards more sustainable practices and reducing our carbon footprint, we can mitigate the intensity and frequency of certain disasters, safeguarding both human and environmental well-being.

Ultimately, natural disasters serve as a humbling reminder of the immense power of nature and the fragility of our existence. While we cannot control the forces that give rise to these events, we can cultivate resilience, foster global cooperation, and prioritize preparedness efforts to better withstand their fury.

As we navigate the unpredictable landscape of natural disasters, let us embrace our shared responsibility to protect lives, safeguard communities, and forge a more sustainable relationship with the natural world. By doing so, we can forge a path towards a future where the devastating impacts of these events are minimized, and humanity emerges stronger and more resilient in the face of nature’s challenges.

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Natural disasters underscore our need for resilience and preparedness. By bolstering infrastructure, safeguarding the environment, and addressing climate change, we can lessen their impact. Emphasizing risk reduction and sustainable practices, we aim to protect lives, economies, and ecosystems. Together, through resilience and cooperation, we can build a future where communities coexist with nature’s forces.

Essay on Natural Disasters- FAQs

What is disaster 1 paragraph.

A disaster is a major disturbance in the operation of a community or society resulting in widespread human, material, economic, or environmental losses and impacts that surpass the afflicted community’s or society’s ability to manage using its own resources.

What are the 2 main types of disasters?

Disasters are typically divided into two categories: natural and man-made. Natural catastrophes are typically related with weather and geological occurrences such as severe temperatures, floods, storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and drought.

What are 5 man-made disasters?

A. Man-made disasters involve human intent, neglect, or error in the breakdown of a man-made system, as opposed to natural disasters caused by natural hazards. Such man-made calamities include crime, arson, civil unrest, terrorism, war, biological/chemical threats, cyber-attacks, and so on.

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Essays About Natural Disasters: 5 Examples and Prompts

Essays about natural disasters teach us many things; read on to see examples and prompts you can use for your piece.

Natural disasters are the sudden occurrence of natural and severe hazards threatening human welfare and survival. These events can cause injuries, destroy assets such as homes and businesses, and even death. Some examples of natural disasters are tornadoes, floods, earthquakes , wildfires, and storms.

Although emergency protocols are in place to alleviate and prevent natural disasters’ impact on both humanity and the economy, there is still no guarantee that these will be able to protect and save everyone from these misfortunes. Therefore, writing essays about natural disasters helps spread awareness on how to act when one faces these mishaps properly.

Below are five examples you should read to create essays about natural disasters effectively:

1. Planning For a Safer Tomorrow by Jyotsana B

2. natural disasters are often not natural by sandra valdez, 3. natural disasters essay by pradeep, 4. equity during natural disasters by writer kip, 5. natural disasters: nature’s revenge by anonymous on loveliessays.com, 1. my experience with natural disasters, 2. natural disasters: a history, 3. natural disasters and the economy, 4. types of natural disasters, 5. my take on natural disaster management, 6. causes of natural disasters, 7. after effects of natural disasters, 8. recovery from a natural disaster.

“Natural disasters have a severe impact on the society, therefore it is important to plan and develop a safety programme and devise means to efficiently deal with natural disaster. Development programme that go into promoting development at the local level have been left to the general exercise of planning.”

The author shares tips on how to prevent calamities and be prepared in case these natural disasters occur. These steps include proper analysis and risk assessment, adequate information database, modern infrastructure, and networks of knowledge-based institutions. The essay further expounds on each point and gives specific directions on successfully implementing these precautions.

“The word ‘natural’ indicates that humans have not triggered the catastrophe. However, human activity can definitely interfere with nature, which in turn may either cause a natural disaster or make its impacts much worse.”

Although Valdez agrees that “natural disasters” means humans do not directly create them, she also considers human’s significant contributions to these tragedies. She offers an example of earthquakes and the fluid injection incident in the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Denver, Colorado. She further lists more human activities that trigger earthquakes , blaming human engineering that stresses the Earth’s faults. Finally, she acknowledges human speeds up disasters and human elements are innate in these equations.

“There is no doubt that extending help to someone during tough times is paramount. Rich countries should support poverty-stricken nations with altruistic aid while calamities take place… Being rich, similar nations are in a position to support countries that suffer economically and emotionally during nature havoc. The result of this is, not only induces good relations between countries but also paves the way to commercial transactions with minimized taxes in the future.”

Pradeep supports that countries with more resources should aid those with lesser assets. It’s not only because of altruistic reasons but because it can also be the foundation for good relationships between governments. These relationships can result in successful transactions and give comfort and security to grief-stricken countries.

“Should we allow prices to increase during natural disasters or should we protect against price gouging?… No policy is best for everyone… In the grand scheme of things, the market will return to normal the quickest whenever the market prices are allowed to fluctuate.”

Kip criticizes the way businesses increase the goods’ prices when there is a natural disaster. He questions if it’s the right thing to do to consumers who are only trying to purchase what they need to be ready for catastrophes. 

He also includes business reviews that rationalize high prices by arguing increasing prices prevents product hoarding. He challenges this statement by asking the readers to consider those who don’t have the money to buy these overpriced essentials. The writer also mentions other terms to explain the economy during a natural disaster and even involves the government’s processes to mitigate its harmful effects.

“Our environment is our responsibility… Exactly who polluted our planet so much? There is only one answer: man. It is man’s actions that have caused the problem… Humanity must realize that if the current trends are allowed to continue unchecked, the future of life on Earth is at risk. it must be conserved.”

Is nature retaliating because of humans’ disregard for it? The author offers reports to present the unpredictability of these disasters brought by climate change. To further prove their points, the author lays down facts like the quick rising of the sea and changing rain patterns. 

At the end of the essay, the writer urges man to be an environmentalist because he depends on his surroundings for food and shelter. Therefore, to survive, humans must treat nature well.

A tip: Run your essay through essay writing apps to organize and help you with style and grammar.

8 Prompts on Essays About Natural Disasters

There are many aspects of natural disasters you can zero in on. Here are easy but compelling prompts to tackle:

Share your experience with a calamity, and narrate what happened before, during, and after. Are there certain things you wish you did or didn’t do? Include how it affected your life and how you understand things work, such as the importance of first responders and following authorities in times of panic and chaos.

Then, focus on your personal experience. For example, your family might have to move places because you lost your home. Or that today, you always have an emergency bag packed and ready. You might also be interested in these essays about nature .

List down notable natural disasters that changed the course of the world. This could include volcanic eruptions, earthquakes , and hurricanes. Then, explain why they happened, how the government or country dealt with it, and discuss the precautions executed in case the disaster occurs again. Finally, include the lessons you learned from these tragedies.

Explain how natural disasters affect the economy. Then, to make it more relatable, you can relay the impact of these tragedies on your life. For example, did any of your relatives lose their job because of a natural disaster? Was your family forced to close down your business? Include personal anecdotes to create an engaging essay.

List the many natural disasters and discuss them in detail. In this essay, you can delve into the causes of each type of natural disaster and how it impacts nearby civilizations. What do you fear the most in these disasters? To make it easier, you can pick two natural disasters to compare and contrast.

Choose an incident where natural disaster management was applied and give your thoughts about it. Research a recent natural disaster and study how the local and national government managed it. If any failed initiatives or points could be improved upon, make sure to write your thoughts about this in your essay. Then, you can discuss what you believe will aid natural disaster management in the future.

For this prompt, you can split your essay into two sections. One section can discuss environmental causes, while the other delves into human activities that cause natural disasters. Topics can include pollution, climate change, and overpopulation of small areas. To create an emotive essay, write about your thoughts on what we can do as a society to mitigate these harmful activities.

Consider the short and long-term effects of these natural disasters. You can concentrate on a specific tragedy that the general public knows so your reader can easily imagine what you describe in your essay. To make your piece more interesting, you can list natural disasters’ negative and positive effects.

If you want your essay to focus on something positive, choose to discuss new beginnings. For example, you can center on a community and how its people helped each other recover. You can also include the assistance they received from different places and how it aided them in restarting their lives after the disaster.

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Natural Disaster Essay: How to Write, Topics, & Examples

What would you do if someone told you that a tsunami would wipe out your house tomorrow afternoon? You won’t believe them. It always seems that natural disasters happen in someone else’s life. But every year, millions of people worldwide suffer from various natural calamities. This article attempts to systemize the chaos of nature for you to write an impressive natural disaster essay. You will get acquainted with the seven types of disasters, get a long list of topics and examples of natural disaster essay in 200 words and 300 words.

• 🌪️ Natural Disaster: The Basics
• 💡 114 Essay Topics
• 📑 Outlining Your Essay
• 🌊 Essay Sample (200 Words)
• 🏜️ Essay Sample (300 Words)

🌪️ Natural Disaster Essay: What Is It About?

A natural disaster is a large-scale meteorological or geological event that can to cause loss of life or massive damage to people’s property. Floods and severe storms are the most reported acts of nature in the US, but other incidents also happen from time to time. That is why you can dedicate your essay on natural disasters to earthquakes, droughts, wildfires, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, or tornadoes.

💡 114 Natural Disasters Essay Topics

What could you write in a natural disaster essay? You can invent your own topic about various types of natural disasters, their causes, and aftermath, or their impact on human life and the economy. Depending on the discipline, you can also describe historic calamities that changed the direction of human civilization. Alternatively, choose one from our comprehensive list below.

• Why are the Great Plains of the central US ideal for tornado formation?
• Global Warming and Climate Change Legislation.
• Research the atmospheric parameters inside a tornado.
• Energy, Technology and Climate Change.
• Why are the boundaries of Tornado Alley in the US so debatable?
• The global climate change as a manmade disaster.
• Which actions should you never do when a tornado is nearby?
• Volunteers’ Role During Disasters.
• Suggest your opinion on the best action strategy in a hurricane.
• The Columbia Disaster and safety violations.
• What were the causes and effects of a flood?
• Analysis on Climate Change and Global Impact.
• Describe the most devastating wildfires in the US and find their common features.
• Earthquake Engineering Considerations and Methods.
• Brainstorm ideas to prevent wildfires.
• Global warming and the greenhouse effect.
• How can building dams cause earthquakes?
• Climate Change and Its Impact on Freshwater.
• Analyze the impact of droughts on tourism.
• Climate Change Effect on Coral Reef Communities.
• Describe the most extended droughts in human history.
• Marine and Coastal Climate Change in Australia.
• Write an essay on natural disasters and earthquakes in particular.
• Air pollution and mortality rates
• What are the distinctive features of droughts in third-world countries?
• Global Warming, Climate Change, and Society’s Impact on the Environment.
• Study the relationship between global warming and droughts.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder After a Hurricane.
• Evaluate the damage caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
• Social Media’s Role in Disaster Response.
• Classify the effects of natural disasters in an essay.
• Sustainability and Climate Change.
• Describe the 1815 volcanic eruption of Mt. Tambora, Indonesia.
• Hurricane Katrina: Overview, Impact, Response.
• Each new leap of civilization causes new responses of nature.
• Animal Exploitation. Animal Agriculture and Climate Change.
• Think of any positive effects a volcanic eruption may have.
• In Arizona, Collaboration Averts Water Disaster.
• Children are the poorest victims of any disaster.
• A Solution to Remedy Climate Change.
• Which ways of disaster risk reduction do you know?
• An Emergency Operations Center During Hurricane Harvey.
• Research the current problems in disaster management.
• Disaster Recovery Plan for Information Technology Organizations.
• Analyze ineffective disaster management in an essay about hurricane Katrina.
• Nurse Competencies and Scope of Practice in Disaster.
• What should a household have at home in the case of a disaster?
• Hurricane Katrina: The Powerful Natural Disaster.
• Describe the humanitarian disaster during the drought in Somalia.
• Technology in Disaster Preparedness.
• Can man-made disasters entail natural calamities?
• Disaster Management in Philadelphia.
• Review the criteria for disaster classification.
• Jeddah Floods and Adaptation Strategies in the City of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• Search for real examples of hybrid disasters.
• Natural Disasters Prevention: A Tabletop Exercise.
• Who is responsible for casualties after a natural disaster?
• The Sand Storms: Remote Sensing and Meteorological Variables.
• List the lessons we could learn from our past disaster experience.
• Fire Development, Growth, and Spreads.
• The ice storm and silver thaw: A gentle disaster.
• Fire Crisis Management in the UAE.
• Rockslides: A pressing issue for rural areas.
• 1d – 2d Flood Modeling Using PCSWMM.
• What are the psychological benefits of disaster preparedness?
• Structural Control and Origin of Volcanism in the Taupo Volcanic Zone.
• When does a blizzard become a disaster?
• Extreme Weather Events + Geographies of Globalization.
• Research the causes of dust storms and name the affected areas.
• Strategies for Sustainable Integrated Oil Disaster Management in West Africa.
• Why did the San Francisco earthquake (1906) cause devastating fires?
• Causes of Climate Change.
• What could be done to help people who lost their homes in an earthquake?
• Book Review: Energy and Global Climate Change.
• Analyze the role of World Vision in humanitarian aid after disasters.
• Tangshan earthquake of 1976 showed that high population density is disastrous.
• The Role of Carbon Dioxide in Climate Change.
• Rock avalanche: Why water is the most powerful geological agent.
• Aspects of Climate Change.
• When do extreme weather conditions turn into a disaster?
• Climate Change: Reasons, Kyoto Protocol.
• Write an article on shelter-providing organizations for disaster victims.
• Establishing an IT Disaster Recovery Plan.
• Describe earthquake cycles in Haiti.
• Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture and Food.
• How can nature damage ecology in natural disasters?
• Climate Change. Problems. Effects.
• Disaster management should include psychological help to the survivors.
• Climate Change Causes: Position and Strategies.
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Haven’t found a suitable topic in the list above? Use our essay topic generator to get more ideas.

📑 Natural Disaster Essay Outline

Outlines differ, depending on the assigned length and essay type. It is a reference sample. Feel free to modify it, extending some points and narrowing the others. Still, the overall structure should remain the same. We have chosen the “Causes of Earthquakes” essay topic for demonstrative purposes.

• Hook . There are millions of possible ways to start your essay, from a rhetorical question to any imaginable scenario. The point is to grab the reader’s attention, showing them that your writing is unique and creative. For example: We are always concerned with the consequences of a natural disaster. But what brought us into such a calamity in the first place?
• Concepts. Natural disasters can be studied in the framework of various disciplines. But in all cases, they are linked with geology, biology, chemistry, geography, and some other subjects with broad and complicated terminology. Explain the terms that could be elusive for your readers here. For example: For the purposes of this essay, an earthquake is a sudden displacement of the land surface.
• Background. How did you come to think of this problem? Why is it topical? The causes of earthquakes are numerous and often unrelated. To understand them as a system, we need a strict classification.
• Thesis statement . Clearly state the aim of your essay. This essay attempts to group the causes of earthquakes to determine which factors can be tackled by human forces.
• Transition sentence. It comes in the previous sentence (for paragraphs 2 and 3) and ensures smooth reading. E.g.: Tectonic movements are the most powerful causes of earthquakes, and we cannot influence them. But still, there is something we could do.
• Topic sentence . What will you explain in this paragraph? Human interference with nature can also cause earthquakes.
• Evidence. How can you confirm the topic sentence? Heavy clubbing of dam water can disturbance the crustal balance. Nuclear bombing causes shockwaves that penetrate the surface, changing the tectonic plates and their natural alignment. Mining can also cause earthquakes by removing extensive volumes of stone from under the ground.
• Warrant. Why does the reader need this information, and how does it relate to the thesis statement? Knowing these facts can help us change the old-fashioned approaches and lessen the ecological damage to our planet.
• Summary. Collect and summarize all your arguments here. Tectonic movements, volcano eruptions, and geological faults cause a significant part of earthquakes worldwide. But various man-made causes bring us to the same result.
• Rephrased thesis. We cannot stop the tectonic movements or hinder volcanic eruptions, but we can use natural resources with more care.

🌊 Natural Disaster Essay 200 Words

Below you will find a short natural disaster essay for 200 words. It explores the causes and effects of the tsunami in Japan in 2011.

Tsunami in Japan: Causes and Effects The proximity of the deadliest disasters is often unpredictable. As a result, the consequences of a tsunami can exceed any possible expectations. This essay looks for the decisive factors that caused the tsunami in Japan in 2011 and its results for the local population and other countries. The causes were out of human control and could not be predicted. The Pacific plate moved in the horizontal and vertical plane, advancing beneath the Eurasian Plate. It displaced the seawater above and entailed several destructive waves. The disaster had enormous consequences for the Japanese people and their economy. It killed almost 16,000 people, although the country had a sophisticated alarming system. Besides, the earthquake caused fires and explosions at oil factories. The cooling system of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant went out of service. Two people were lost, and many were injured. Nissan, like many other large corporations, had to suspend the operation of its four factories. The economic losses due to the catastrophe amounted to 300 billion dollars. But the disaster moved to other places. On 24 March 2011, the earthquake in the east of Myanmar claimed the lives of 60 people and destroyed 300 buildings. As we can see, everything is linked on our planet. Movements of the earth’ crust in any part of the world bring about earthquakes and tsunami in other countries. The series of waves in Japan was caused by the underwater earthquake and had horrible consequences.

🏜️ Natural Disaster Essay 300 Words

If your assignment is longer, you will have to provide your opinion in the essay. Or, you can make your argumentation more detailed. Below you can check our 300-word sample of a disaster essay.

The Economic Effects of the Dust Bowl Drought When someone says “a natural disaster,” we usually imagine an earthquake or a tsunami. Buildings are destroyed, and property is lost. But imagine a scenario of a devastating drought, which happened in the US in the 1930s. Its effect is less visible because it lies in the domain of the national economy. This essay reveals the economic consequences of the Dust Bowl drought. During the third decade of the XX century, strong winds raised choking dust in the southern states, from Texas to Nebraska. People and animals died as the crops failed in the area for several years in a row. The Dust Bowl lasted for almost a decade and was also called “the Dirty Thirties.” This drought intensified the impact of the Great Depression. Local farmers had to migrate to urban areas in search of better conditions and other sources of living. About 2.5 million people moved West from the worst-hit states, namely New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas. But they found only discrimination, meager salaries, and inhuman working conditions. Many had to live in tents near irrigation ditches. They were called “Okies,” a disdainful name for migrants of any state. Regular rains returned to the southern states by the end of 1939, closing the drought. However, the economic aftermath persisted. The counties that suffered the most failed to recover the agricultural value of their land till the 1950s. Thus, the local population kept decreasing for twenty years. Although a drought does not ruin property, it can tangibly lower human life levels. The Dust Bowl threw people into a lose-lose situation. Their farms were unfit for gaining any profit, and the new places of living gave them no better opportunities. It took two decades to restore public wellbeing in the Southern States.

Researching the worst acts of nature can teach you to value what you have. We hope that this article has made your creative writing more manageable and pleasurable. You can write an essay of any length by simply following our outline. All you will need to do after that is make a cover page for it.

Please share your natural disaster essay ideas in the comments below.

❓ Natural Disaster Essay FAQ

How to write an essay about natural disaster.

Your approach should depend on the discipline. But in any case, you can discuss the types of disasters, their consequences, characteristics, and preconditions. The excellent idea is to select a past disastrous event and analyze it from the economic, social, or individual point of view.

What Is a Disaster Essay?

A disaster essay explores the stages of a natural or man-made calamity and seeks the possible ways to prevent similar emergencies in the future. An article on disaster management studies the correct and efficient activities to lower the casualties and property loss after a disaster.

What Is Disaster Preparedness Essay?

This type of writing analyzes the level of readiness of a region or municipality to an unexpected natural disaster. You can highlight the vulnerable groups of the population that will suffer the most. Or, you may invent measures that could reduce the disaster response and coping time. Such assignments teach you strategic thinking and a systematic approach to problem-solving.

How to Describe a Natural Disaster for an Essay?

You should specify that the event was unexpected and led to many deaths and property loss. The most critical things include the causes of the disaster, its progress and duration, and the negative consequences for the locals. You can also specify the negative effect on the economy and humanitarian condition of the area.

🔗 References

• Natural Disasters and Severe Weather | CDC
• Types of Disasters | SAMHSA
• Natural Disaster – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
• Natural Disasters – National Geographic
• What Is Disaster Management: Prevention and Mitigation

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Frequency and disaster patterns

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Recent News

natural disaster , any calamitous occurrence generated by the effects of natural, rather than human-driven, phenomena that produces great loss of human life or destruction of the natural environment , private property, or public infrastructure . A natural disaster may be caused by weather and climate events or by earthquakes , landslides , and other occurrences that originate at Earth ’s surface or within the planet itself. No spot on Earth is immune from a natural disaster; however, certain types of disasters are often limited to or occur more frequently in specific geographic regions.

Weather- and climate-driven natural disasters include flooding caused by heavy rains associated with hurricanes and typhoons ( tropical cyclones ) and other intense storms; drought , famine , and wildfires brought on by heat waves and shifts in precipitation patterns; wind -generated devastation caused by tropical cyclones, tornadoes , derechos , and other windstorms ; and damage and loss of life caused by blizzards and heavy snowfalls. Earth-driven natural disasters include large volcanic eruptions (which produce lava flows, explosions, toxic gas clouds, ash falls, and pyroclastic flows that damage populated areas) and strong earthquakes (which result from the sudden fracturing of Earth’s crust ) powerful enough to damage or destroy built-up areas near their origin points.

Some phenomena that produce natural disasters may be caused by a combination of several different forces. For example, landslides (the movement of large masses of rock , debris, and soil downslope) may be caused by rains that saturate the soil on an unstable slope, or they may be triggered by earthquakes. In a similar manner, the buildup of snow on mountain slopes increases the risks of localized avalanches . Tsunamis , catastrophic ocean waves that can rise as high as 30 metres (about 100 feet) above normal sea level , are produced by submarine earthquakes, underwater or coastal landslides, volcanic eruptions, or meteor or comet impacts. The largest tsunamis are fast-moving waves that can travel across oceans to wreak havoc in coastal areas separated thousands of kilometres from one another.

Certain types of natural disasters are more likely to occur in specific geographic regions, and in some places these events occur with seasonal regularity, as in the spring tornado season in the United States or the summer-and-fall hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean , Caribbean Sea , and the Gulf of Mexico . Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are most frequent near tectonic plate boundaries, and an especially active boundary exists between the Indo-Australian and Eurasian plates.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)—a United Nations (UN) agency that monitors Earth’s land, water , and atmosphere —reported in 2021 that the number of natural disasters per decade showed a fivefold increase from 1979 to 2019, and data collected in the EM-DAT, an international disaster database maintained by the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, Brussels, indicate that more than 300 disasters have been tallied each year since 1998. Though many natural disasters are neither preventable nor largely predictable, the WMO report notes that global warming —an increasingly human-driven phenomenon generated by the emission of greenhouse gases , specifically those released by the combustion of fossil fuels —is increasing the frequency of weather- and climate-related natural disasters, such as droughts, heat waves, increasingly intense hurricanes, and flooding due to sea-level rise. Warmer temperatures are causing more extreme weather events by delivering more precipitation to some areas—which may be unused to receiving heavy rains and snows, increasing flooding risk—while delivering less to other areas that rely on it, increasing drought risk. In addition, reliable sources of rainfall, such as the South Asian monsoon , on which agriculture of the Indian subcontinent has long depended, are becoming less predictable, and rain events have become more violent and dangerous, damaging crops and producing more intense flooding. This change has subjected some areas under the monsoon’s influence to extended drought conditions, whereas other areas receive too much rainfall, a pattern that scientists predict will worsen in the 21st century.

The costs of individual natural disasters frequently reach the tens of billions of dollars. Such costs may be associated with damage to crops, buildings, and infrastructure that occurs annually in areas prone to tropical cyclone activity or heavy seasonal rains, with some events, such as the Pakistan floods of 2022 and Hurricane Katrina (which struck the southern United States in 2005), costing more than $30 billion and $186 billion, respectively. Similarly, costs associated with earthquakes, which occur less regularly, can be high (such as China ’s Sichuan earthquake of 2008 and Japan ’s Kōbe earthquake of 1995 , which incurred costs estimated at more than $86 billion and more than $100 billion, respectively).

The number of deaths from natural disasters also varies by location and the intensity of the event; however, the overall trend points to a decline from several hundreds of thousands of deaths annually during the first half of the 20th century to roughly 45,000 deaths globally each year. The number of deaths also varies widely from year to year, with smaller natural disasters (or natural disasters occurring in areas far from human settlement) killing few and shockingly large disasters producing truly massive losses of life. Some of the most notable catastrophic disasters in history include the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 (which killed more than 225,000 people), the Tangshan earthquake of 1976 (which resulted in more than 242,000 deaths), the 2010 Haiti earthquake (which by some estimates may have killed at least 300,000 people), and China’s Shaanxi province earthquake of 1556 (which killed more than 800,000 people).

Although deaths from natural disasters have decreased overall, people in lower-income countries often suffer disproportionately, because these locations have fewer resources and thus greater vulnerability to the elements and to food insecurity . In contrast, highly developed countries have better infrastructure (for communications, evacuation procedures, the movement of resources, and the delivery of medical services). In addition, high-income countries can implement policies that limit construction in flood-prone areas or mandate the construction of more earthquake-resistant homes, office buildings, and other structures, thereby reducing the risk of crushing injury and death stemming from building collapses. Consequently, relatively few people die from earthquakes in California , a location well-known for its strong building codes with respect to withstanding earthquakes, compared with places such as Iran and Pakistan, where building codes are either less stringent or whose codes frequently go unenforced.

Advances in weather forecasting and advances in land-based seismic sensors and sensors placed aboard satellites , aircraft, and stationary buoys floating in the world’s oceans have led to the development of various kinds of early warning systems. In some cases, these systems are capable of predicting or accurately classifying the strength of the physical forces that generate natural disasters before they cause damage. The perhaps most widespread and best known of these systems are those used by national weather bureaus that classify, track, and predict various weather events and issue bulletins about storms and other weather and climate phenomena affecting their land areas and sea zones. National weather bureaus are often made up of a network of numerous local offices spread across a country that gauge local weather conditions several times per day. Data collected by these offices can be used to develop weather models that help to predict the strength of a storm , as well as its location, days in advance of its arrival in a local area.

In addition, specialized units within national governments—such as the China Earthquake Administration, the Japan Meteorological Agency, the United Kingdom’s Met Office, India’s National Center of Seismology, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , and the U.S. Geological Survey—monitor specific physical forces capable of causing the most damaging and deadly natural disasters (that is, earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts , flooding, and winds driven by tornadoes and tropical cyclones). Many of these organizations within specific countries cooperate with their counterparts in others or assist international organizations, such as the WMO and the International Tsunami Information Center, to issue warnings, develop international safety standards, and assess the risks associated with forces that affect several countries or the planet as a whole. Some early warning systems even look beyond Earth’s atmosphere; the near-Earth objects system operated by the European Space Agency and the Scout and Sentry impact hazard systems run by NASA in the United States are a few of several systems designed to detect, track, and predict the risk associated with asteroids , comets, and other extraterrestrial objects capable of striking Earth.

Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Disasters — Natural Disasters

Essays on Natural Disasters

Hook examples for natural disasters essays, "nature's wrath unleashed" hook.

"Natural disasters remind us of the raw power of the Earth. Explore the awe-inspiring, yet devastating, forces that shape our world and challenge our resilience."

"Surviving the Unthinkable" Hook

"Survivors of natural disasters carry stories of strength and survival. Share firsthand accounts of individuals who faced nature's fury and emerged as heroes."

"Disaster Preparedness: Are We Ready?" Hook

"In an era of climate change, disaster preparedness is paramount. Analyze the state of our preparedness efforts, the role of technology, and the importance of community resilience."

"The Environmental Toll of Natural Disasters" Hook

"Beyond human impact, natural disasters take a toll on our environment. Investigate the ecological consequences of disasters and the long-term effects on ecosystems."

"Mitigating Disaster: A Race Against Time" Hook

"Scientists and policymakers are working tirelessly to mitigate the impact of natural disasters. Explore innovative strategies, early warning systems, and the quest to save lives."

"Humanitarian Response and Resilience" Hook

"Natural disasters bring out the best in humanity as communities and organizations rally to provide aid. Celebrate stories of humanitarian response and the strength of human resilience."

"The Future of Disaster Management" Hook

"As natural disasters become more frequent and severe, we must adapt. Discuss the future of disaster management, sustainable solutions, and global cooperation in the face of adversity."

Narrative on Earthquake: an Earth-shattering Experience

Flash flooding in duck creek, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

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The Sinking of The Lusitania: Catalyst for Change

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The Catastrophic Cyclone of April 1991 in Bangladesh

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Why People Loot During Disasters and What Can Be Done to Resolve The Issue

Hurricane maria – a name puerto rico will never forget, public attitudes towards risk and how it contributes to vulnerability, tsunamis in the pacific ocean and indonesia, report on oklahoma tornado disaster in 1999, tornadoes and the importance to be prepared, earthquake and its devastating effects, hurricanes – the frightening challenges for new orleans, the portrayal of climate change in political discourse and its connection to natural disasters, the effects of earthquakes on the economy, hurricane katrina and crisis counseling, hurricane dorian – the worst natural disaster in bahamian history, past, present, and future integration of spatial technologies and techniques in disaster management, tsunami modeling of caribbean sources affecting the north coast of puerto rico, embracing technology in tornado recovery, the lessons we learnt from xenia tornado, nuclear waste: an american disaster, earthquake is essential for the earth, the economics during and after kerala’s flood disaster, probabilistic analysis of optimal management of storage areas .

A natural disaster is a major adverse event resulting from natural processes of the Earth.

Geological disasters: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, sinkholes, etc. Hydrological disasters: floods, tsunami, limnic eruptions. Meteorological disasters: droughts, tropical cyclone, blizzards, hailstorms, etc. Wildfires. Space disasters.

Damage paths of tornadoes can be in excess of one mile wide and 50 miles long. Between 2000 and 2012, natural disasters caused $1.7 trillion in damage and affected 2.9 billion people. Floods are the most widespread natural disaster aside from wildfires. 90% of all US natural disasters declared by the president involve some sort of flooding.

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Natural Disasters Essay

Natural disasters are not in the control of human beings. Like many other countries, India is also plagued with many natural disasters because of its geographical location and environment. In the past few decades, the temperature in the Indian subcontinent has risen. A natural calamity is called a disaster when it affects people or property on a large scale. Here are a few sample essays on the topic ‘Natural Disasters’.

100 Words Essay On Natural Disasters

Humans have been subjected to the impact of natural disasters for as long as they have been on Earth. Disasters, unfortunately, are happening all the time. Most of the Natural Disasters we see are caused by natural forces. Therefore, they are almost impossible to prevent from happening. Natural disasters like floods, drought, landslides, earthquakes, and cyclones frequently occur all throughout the world. Often, natural disasters leave mass effects and it can take years to control the damage. However, the negative effects and damages caused by these natural disasters can be reduced significantly if proper warning systems or policies are used.

200 Words Essay On Natural Disasters

Natural disasters are mostly naturally occurring events that greatly damage human lives and assets. Every year, many lives are lost due to natural disasters across the globe. Many people are left with no home or property. They suffer endlessly. Some natural disasters are floods, landslides, cyclones, hurricanes, drought, wildfires. This problem becomes far more severe when a natural disaster occurs in a densely populated place. Unfortunately, most natural disasters are unpreventable from happening. We can only forecast these events and take necessary measures to mitigate the loss.

India is one of the most vulnerable countries to natural disasters because of its unique geological position. Every year India witnesses nearly five cyclones of various intensities. Droughts in summer and mild to strong earthquakes are frequently experienced in many northern parts of India near the Himalayas. In India, wildfires are caused in the forest area during the autumn and summer seasons. Our country is also witnessing dramatic climate changes and massive global warming due to pollution and greenhouse gases. Due to this, natural disasters are becoming more frequent than before.

Coping Up With Natural Disasters

Most natural disasters are out of our control and can occur randomly. All we can do, however, is take necessary precautions as soon as we are able to predict when the disaster is going to take place. Global Warming is an important reason for all these things. Therefore, we must protect and preserve our natural environment. It is essential to warn people of upcoming disasters. A mandatory evacuation should be carried out if necessary. After the disaster, people should be provided financial help to recover from damages and losses from the disaster.

500 Words Essay On Natural Disasters

Natural disasters are events that occur due to either biological activity or human-made activity. Human lives and property are affected for a long time after it occurs. The number of cases is increasing worldwide every day. It is because of the over-exploitation of natural resources by mankind. India suffers significantly from natural disasters due to its vulnerable geographical location. Due to this, our country still needs a proper disaster management unit.

Types Of Natural Disasters

Different kinds of Natural Disasters in India occur very often and have major effects on people’s lives.

Earthquake | An earthquake is a natural event when the Earth's tectonic plates suddenly shift and cause the ground to shake. This shaking can damage buildings and other structures, as well as loss of life. Earthquakes can happen at any time and can strike without warning, making them a frightening and unpredictable phenomenon.

Cyclone | A cyclone is a type of storm characterised by a low-pressure centre and strong winds that spiral inward and upward. Cyclones are also typhoons or hurricanes, depending on the region in which they occur. Cyclones form over warm ocean waters and typically move toward land, where they can cause widespread damage and destruction. They are often accompanied by heavy rainfall and can spawn tornadoes. The destructive power of a cyclone comes from its strong winds, which can reach speeds of over 150 miles per hour. These winds can uproot trees, damage buildings, and create storm surges, large waves that can flood coastal areas.

Wildfire | A wildfire is a large, uncontrolled fire that occurs in a natural habitat, such as a forest, grassland, or prairie. Wildfires can happen due to various factors, including lightning, human activity, and extreme weather conditions. When a wildfire occurs, it can spread quickly, consuming everything in its path. Wildfires can have many adverse effects on the environment and people. For example, they can destroy homes and other buildings and critical infrastructures, such as roads and bridges. They can also cause air pollution and respiratory issues for people living in the area.

Human Activities And Natural Disasters

Human activities can contribute to the occurrence and severity of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and wildfires. For example, activities like deforestation, urbanisation, and climate change can increase the likelihood and impact of these events.

Deforestation, which removes vegetation from an area, can increase the risk of natural disasters. Trees and other vegetation hold the upper layer of soil in place, which prevents erosion and landslides. When these plants are removed, the ground becomes more vulnerable to being swept away by heavy rainfall or other natural forces.

Urbanisation, or the growth of cities and towns, can also contribute to natural disasters. As more and more people move into urban areas, the risk of earthquakes, wildfires, and other natural disasters increases. For example, the construction of buildings and other structures can alter the natural landscape, making it more susceptible to damage from earthquakes and other events.

Climate change, the long-term warming of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, can also increase the likelihood and severity of natural disasters. Higher temperatures can lead to more often intense heat waves, droughts, and wildfires. Rising sea levels can cause more severe flooding, particularly in coastal areas.

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Essay on natural disasters: top 12 essays | geography.

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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Natural Disasters’ for class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Natural Disasters’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Natural Disasters

Essay Contents:

• Essay on the Initiatives Taken by the Government

Essay on Natural Disaster # 1. Introduction:

The definition of natural disasters is any catastrophic event that is caused by nature or the natural processes of the earth. The severity of a disaster is measured in lives lost, economic loss, and the ability of the population to rebuild. Events that occur in unpopulated areas are not considered disasters. So a flood on an uninhabited island would not count as a disaster, but a flood in a populated area is called a natural disaster.

All natural disasters cause loss in some way. Depending on the severity, lives can be lost in any number of disasters. Falling buildings or trees, freezing to death, being washed away, or heat stroke are just some of the deadly effects. Some disasters cause more loss of life than others, and population density affects the death count as well.

Hence, there is loss of property, which affects people’s living quarters, transportation, livelihood, and means to live. Fields saturated in salt water after tsunamis take years to grow crops again. Homes destroyed by floods, hurricanes, cyclones, landslides and avalanches, a volcanic eruption, or an earthquake are often beyond repair or take a lot of time to become livable again. Personal effects, memorabilia, vehicles, and documents also take a hit after many natural disasters.

The natural disasters that really affect people worldwide tend to become more intense as the years go on. Frequency of earthquakes, mega storms, and heat waves has gone up considerably in the last few decades. Heavy population in areas that get hit by floods, cyclones, and hurricanes has meant that more lives are lost.

In some areas, the population has gotten somewhat prepared for the eventuality of disasters and shelters are built for hurricanes and tornadoes. However, loss of property is still a problem, and predicting many natural disasters isn’t easy.

Scientists, geologists, and storm watchers work hard to predict major disasters and avert as much damage as possible. With all the technology available, it’s become easier to predict major storms, blizzards, cyclones, and other weather related natural disasters. But there arestill natural disasters that come up rather unexpectedly, such as earthquakes, wildfires, landslides, or even volcanic eruptions.

Sometimes, a time of warning is there, but it’s often very short with catastrophic results. Areas that are not used to disasters affected by flash floods or sudden hail storms can be affected in an extreme way. However, despite the many natural disasters the world over, mankind has shown amazing resilience.

When an area or country is badly affected by a natural disaster, the reaction is always one of solidarity and aid is quick to come. There are organizations set up with the primary goal of being prepared for natural disasters. These groups work on global and local scale rescue work. Aside from those who have chosen to make disaster relief their life-work, when disasters hit, it’s the individuals who step in who help to make a difference.

Many people talk about when a disaster has hit and their neighbours and countrymen have come to aid, often to their own loss. People will step in and donate items, time, and skills in order to help those affected by a natural disaster. Celebrities will often do what they can to raise money through concerts, phone marathons, and visiting affected areas with aid.

People have also shown that they can rebuild, lives can be remade or start over. Trauma is a big after effect of natural disasters and getting counseling has been the focus of aid-to heal emotionally as well as physically. It’s clear that natural disasters are a part of life as we know it. However, science is making it more possible to predict, aid is faster at coming, and people are learning how to rebuild in safer areas.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 2. Earthquake :

India is having a high risk towards earthquakes. More than 58 per cent of India’s land area is under threat of moderate to severe seismic hazard. During the last 20 years, India has experienced 10 major earthquakes that have resulted in more than 35,000 deaths. The most vulnerable areas, according to the present seismic zone map of India include the Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan regions, Kutch and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Depending on varying degrees of seismicity, the entire country can be divided into the following seismic regions: Of the earthquake-prone areas, 12% is proneto very severe earthquakes, 18% to severe earthquakes and 25% to damageable earthquakes.

Though the regions of the country away from the Himalayas and other inter-plate boundaries were considered to be relatively safe from damaging earthquakes, the presence of a large number of non-engineering structures and buildings with poor foundations in these areas make these regions also susceptible to earthquakes.

In the recent past, even these areas also have experienced earthquake, of lower magnitude than the Himalayan earthquakes. The North-eastern part of the country continues to experience moderate to strong earthquakes. On an average, this region experiences an earthquake with magnitude greater than 5.0 every year.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are situated on an inter-plate boundary and therefore are likely to experience damaging earthquakes frequently. The increase in earthquake risk in India in recent times is caused due to a spurt in developmental activities driven by urbanization, economic development and the globalization of India’s economy. The increase in the use of high-technology equipment and tools in manufacturing and service industries have also made them susceptible to disruption due to relatively moderate ground shaking.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 3. Flood and Drought :

The country receives an annual precipitation of 400 million hectare meters. Of the annual rainfall, 75% is received during four months of monsoon (June — September) and, as a result, almost all the rivers carry heavy discharge during this period. The flood hazard is compounded by the problems of sediment deposition, drainage congestion and synchronization of river floods with sea tides in the coastal plains.

The area vulnerable to floods is 40 million hectares and the average area affected by floods annually is about 8 million hectares. About 30 million people are affected by flood every year. Floods in the Indo-Gangetic-Brahmaputra plains are an annual feature. On an average, a few hundred lives are lost, millions are rendered homeless and several hectares of crops are damaged every year around 68% arable land of the country is prone to drought in varying degrees.

Drought prone areas comprise 108.11 million hectares out of a total land area of 329 million hectares. About 50 million people are affected annually by drought. Of approximately 90 million hectares of rain-fed areas, about 40 million hectares are prone to scanty or no rain.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 4. Cyclone :

India’s long coastline of 7,516 kilometer is exposed to nearly 10 per cent of the world’s tropical cyclones. Of these, the majority has their initial genesis over the Bay of Bengal and strike the east coast of India. On an average, five to six tropical cyclones form every year, of which two or three could be severe.

Cyclones occur frequently on both the Coasts (the West Coast —Arabian Sea; and the East Coast —Bay of Bengal). More Cyclones occur in the Bay of Bengal than in the Arabian Sea and the ratio is approximately 4:1.

An analysis of the frequency of cyclones on the East and West Coasts of India between 1891 and 1990 shows that nearly 262 cyclones occurred (92 severe) in a 50 km wide strip on the East Coast. Less severe cyclonic activity has been noticed on the West Coast, with 33 cyclones occurring in the same period, out of which 19 of these were severe.

In India, Tropical cyclones occur in the months of May-June and October-November. The cyclones of severe intensity and frequency in the north Indian Ocean are bi-modal in character, with their primary peak in November and secondary peak in May. The disaster potential is particularly high at the time of landfall in the north Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea) due to the accompanying destructive wind, storm surges and torrential rainfall.

Of these, storm surges are the greatest killers of a cyclone, by which sea water inundates low lying areas of coastal regions and causes heavy floods, erodes beaches and embankments, destroys vegetation and reduces soil fertility.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 5. Landslide :

In the hilly terrain of India including the Himalayas, landslides have been a major and widely spread natural disasters that often strike life and property and occupy a position of major concern. One of the worst tragedies took place at Malpa (Uttrakhand) on 11th and 17th August, 1998. When nearly 380 people were killed when massive landslides washed away the entire village. This included 60 pilgrims going to Lake.

Mansarovar in Tibet. In 2010 Cloud burst led flash mudslides and flash floods killed 196 people, including 6 foreigners and injured more than 400 and swept away number of houses, sweeping away buildings, bus stand and military installations in trans-Himalaya Leh town of Jammu and Kashmir.

Giving due consideration to the severity of the problem various land reform measures have been initiated as mitigation measures. Landslides occur in the hilly regions such as the Himalayas, North-East India, the Nilgiris, and Eastern and Western Ghats.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 6. Avalanche :

Avalanches are river like speedy flow of snow or ice descending from the mountain tops. Avalanches are very damaging and cause huge loss to life and property. In Himalayas, avalanches are common in Drass, Pir Panijat, Lahaul-Spiti and Badrinath areas.

As per Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), on an average around 30 people are killed every year due to this disaster in various zones of the Himalayas. Beside killing people, avalanches also damage the roads and others properties and settlements falling in its way.

Area Prone to Avalanches:

I. Avalanches are common in Himalayan region above 3500 m elevation.

II. Very frequent on slopes of 30-45°.

III. Convex slopes more prone to this disaster.

IV. North facing slope have avalanches in winter and south facing slopes during spring.

V. Slopes covered with grass more prone to this hazard.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 7. Tsunami:

Tsunami, or seismic sea waves, are large ocean waves generated by impulses from geophysical events occurring on the ocean floor or along the coastline, such as earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions.

Mostly occurring in the Pacific Ocean, tsunamis, although hardly noticeable at sea, can reach gigantic proportions as they reach shallow, coastal waters. In Hawaii and Japan, for example, tsunamis have been known to reach 30 m in height. At least 22 countries along the rim of the Pacific are estimated to beat risk from potential tsunami.

The fact that tsunamis can travel 10,000 km at velocities exceeding 900 km per hour with little loss of energy and are, therefore, capable of hitting areas not directly affected by the inducing event, has led to the establishment of a tsunami early warning service for the whole circum-Pacific area.

However, only a few of the 22 countries most at risk are considered to have standard operating procedures for immediate evacuation or reliable, rapid communication systems capable of receiving real-time warnings from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.

About 6,000-people have been killed by tsunami during 1977-1986 alone. Probably the best documented of these events is the occurrence at Noshiro, Japan, in 1983 which caused approximately 100 deaths and extensive property damage and flooding. The tsunami (Dec. 2004) in South East Asia lead to a death tool of over 2.5 lakhs peoples of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and India.

Tsunamis have multiple origin—16.5 per cent resulted from tectonic earthquakes associated with the eruption, 20 per cent from pyroclastic (ash) flows or surges hitting the ocean, 14 per cent from submarine eruptions, 7 per cent resulted from the collapse of the volcano and subsequent caldera formation, 5 per cent from landslides or avalanches, 3 per cent from atmospheric shock waves and 25 per cent had no discernible origin, but probably were produced by submerged volcanic eruptions.

A partial geographical distribution of tsunamis is given in Table 30.2:

Over past two thousand years there have been 10, 00,000 deaths attributed to tsunami in the Pacific region alone. Earlier Pacific Tsunami warning system was established for forecasting the event. Now global network was established in all Oceans & Seas.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 8. Windstorms:

Judged by the frequency with which they cause damage and by the surface area of the regions they strike, windstorms can be said to be the most significant of all natural hazards. Windstorms influence precipitation systems floods and, most importantly, cause severe destruction to crops and properties.

Severe tropical cyclones (called “ hurricanes ” in the Atlantic, Caribbean and north-eastern Pacific; “ typhoons ” in the western Pacific; and “ cyclones ” in the Indian Ocean and in the sea around Australia), tornadoes, monsoons and thunderstorms between them affect every country in the world.

Today increasing attention is being paid to windstorms, particularly tropical cyclones as some scientists see their incidence as being a possible indicator of global climatic change and predict an increase in their frequency.

Have tropical cyclone frequencies or their intensities increased with global changes throughout the last century? At present, available evidence does not support this idea, perhaps because the warming is not yet large enough to make its impact felt (WMO/UNEP, 1990).

Global information on Kanor windstorms and their impact is collated by organisations such as UNDRO UNEP and AID/OFDA. However, global listings of disasters rarely include those which occur in small states such as island states, which in areas such as the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and South Pacific are particularly prone to tropical cyclones.

This is because listings often set a criteria based on magnitude of impact with which small states cannot compete against larger countries. However, the proportional impact upon small states is often far greater in terms of population, housing and economics.

The impact of cyclones goes far beyond just deaths and building damage. In developing countries destruction of infrastructure and primary agriculture can lead to a decrease in exports and gross national product, while increasing the likelihood of forfeiture of international loan repayments. Contamination of water supplies and destruction of crops can also lead to disease and starvation.

Many mid-latitude cyclonic depressions can give rise to exceptionally heavy rain and widespread flooding and snow fall too. Dust storms are windstorms accompanied by suspended clay, silt materials, usually but not always without precipitation. Average 130-800 million tonnes of dust are entrained by winds each year.

Severe windstorms with high level of flush rain often called thunderstorms associated with lightning, hail and tornadoes cause massive destruction of properties and also human lives through out the world. Early warning and emergency relief operation are the major management activity.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 9. Forest Fire :

Forest or bush fire, though not causing much loss to human life, is a major hazard for forest cover in the country. As per Forest Survey of India report, 50 per cent of the forest cover of the country is fire prone, out of which 6.17 per cent is prone to severe fire damage causing extensive loss to forest vegetation and environment. Average annual physical loss due to forest fire in the country is estimated to worth Rs.440 crores.

The major loss due to forest fire is caused to the environment which gets adversely affected by this calamity. The degradation of climate, soil and water quality, loss of wildlife and its habitat, deterioration of human health, depletion of ozone layer, etc., along with direct loss to timber are the major adverse impact of forest fires.

The coniferous forests in the Himalayan region are very susceptible to fire and every year there are one or more major fire incidences in these areas. The other parts of the country dominated by deciduous forest are also damaged by fire up to an extent. It is worth mentioning that in India 90 per cent of the forest fires are man-made (intentionally or unintentionally).

Essay on Natural Disaster # 10. Volcanoes:

Volcanoes are conduits in the earth’s crust through which gas enriched molten silicate rock magma reaches to the surface of earth crust.

An active volcano occurs where magma (molten rock) reaches the earth’s surface through a central vent or a long crack (fissure) Volcanic activity can release ejecta (debris), liquid lava and gases (H 2 O vapour C 2 , SO 2 , NO x , etc.) to the environment.

There are two types of magma ejected out of volcanoes —silica poor materials, and silica rich materials. The silica poor volcanoes called basaltic volcanoes, while the silica rich volcanoes are andesitic volcanoes.

There are many hazardous phenomena produced directly or as secondary effects, by volcanic eruptions.

The direct hazards of volcanic eruptions are:

a. Lava flow;

b. Ballistics and tephra clouds;

c. Pyroclastic flows and base surges;

d. Gases and acid rains;

e. Lahars (mud flows); and

f. Glacier bursts (Jokulhlamps).

In addition indirectly they are associated with earthquake and tsunami events. Volcanoes are visually one of the most spectacular natural hazardous to occur and probably most devastating in terms of loss of human life.

The volcano likes Mt. Vesurivs, Mt. St Helena, Krakatoa, and Mt, Pelee are significant because of either the enormity of the eruption or the resulting death tool. As per Gaius Pinius Caecilius secundus on 24 August, 79 AD the Nt. Vesuvius eruption causes 2,000 death and burying of the Pompeii city.

There is no doubt that the earth is experiencing on of the most intense periods of volcanism in the last 10,000 years. This period began at the beginning of the seventh century, concomitant with global cooling that peaked in the little ice age.

In contrast the volcanic events of the last century may be viewed as freak eruption of supposedly dormant volcanoes. In the present era, volcanic eruption are pervasive, unpredictable and deadly.

Land use planning better prediction of volcanic eruptions and development of effective evacuation plans reduce the loss of human life from volcanic eruption. The prediction systems related to volcanic activity has improved considerably during past few decades. The environmental consequence of volcanic eruption without or with anthropogenic emission is shown in Fig. 30.3.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 11. Planning For a Safer Tomorrow :

Natural disasters have a severe impact on the society, therefore it is important to plan and develop a safety programme and devise means to efficiently deal with natural disaster. Development programme that go into promoting development at the local level have been left to the general exercise of planning.

Measures need also to be taken to integrate disaster mitigation efforts at the local level with the general exercise of planning, and a more supportive environment created for initiatives towards managing of disasters at all levels: national, state, district and local.

The future blue-print for disaster management in India rests on the premise that in today’s society while hazards, both natural or otherwise, are inevitable, the disasters that follow need not be so and the society can be prepared to cope with them effectively whenever they occur.

The need of the hour is to chalk out a multi-pronged strategy for total risk management, comprising prevention, preparedness, response and recovery on the one hand, and initiate development efforts aimed towards risk reduction and mitigation, on the other. Only then can we look forward to “sustainable development”.

Prevention and Preparedness :

Disaster prevention is intrinsically linked to preventive planning.

Some of the important steps in this regard are:

1. Introduction of a comprehensive process of vulnerability analysis and objective risk assessment.

2. Building a Robust and Sound Information Database:

A comprehensive database of the landuse, demography, infrastructure developed at the national, state and local levels alongwith current information on climate, weather and man-made structures is crucial in planning, warning and assessment of disasters. In addition, resource inventories of governmental and non-governmental systems including personnel and equipment help inefficient mobilization and optimization of response measures.

3. Creating State-of-the-Art Infrastructure:

The entire disaster mitigation game plan must necessarily be anchored to front line research and development in a holistic mode. State-of-the art technologies available worldwide need to be made available in India for upgrading of the disaster management system; at the same time, dedicated research activities should be encouraged, in all frontier areas related to disasters like biological, space applications, information technology, nuclear radiation etc., for a continuous flow of high quality basic information for sound disaster management planning.

4. Establishing Linkages between all knowledge-based Institutions:

A National Disaster Knowledge Network, tuned to the felt needs of a multitude of users like disaster managers, decision-makers, community etc., must be developed as the network of networks to cover natural, man-made and biological disasters in all their varied dimensions.

Capacity Building :

Reconstruction and rebuilding is a long drawn process and those involved in this exercise have to draw upon knowledge of best practices and resources available to them. Information and training on ways to better respond to and mitigate disasters to the responders go a long way in building the capacity and resilience of the country to reduce and prevent disasters.

Training is an integral part of capacity building as trained personnel respond much better to different disaster sand appreciate the need for preventive measures. The multi-sectoral and multi-hazard prevention based approach to disaster management. Professional training in disaster management is essential and should be built into the existing pedagogic research and education.

Specialised courses should be treated as a distinct academic and professional discipline, the subject needs to be discussed and taught as a specific component in professional and specialised courses like medicine, nursing, engineering, environmental sciences, architecture, and town and country planning.

Secondly, there has to be a focus towards preventive disaster management and development of a national ethos of prevention calls for an awareness generation at all levels. An appropriate level of awareness at the school level will help increase awareness among children and, in many cases, parents and other family members through these children.

Curriculum development with a focus towards dissemination of disaster related information on a sustained basis, covering all school levels may be worked out by the different school boards in the country.

Training facilities for government personnel involved in disaster management are conducted at the national level by the National Centre for Disaster Management at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, in New Delhi which functions as the nodal institution in the country for training, research and documentation of disasters.

At the State level, disaster management cells operating within the State Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs) provide the necessary training. Presently, 24 ATIs have dedicated faculties. There is a need for strengthening specialized training, including training of personnel in disaster response.

Finally, capacity building should not be limited to professionals and personnel involved in disaster management but should also focus on building the knowledge, attitude and skills of a community to cope with the effects of disasters. Identification and training of volunteers from the community towards first response measures as well as mitigation measures is an urgent imperative.

A programme of periodic drills should be introduced in vulnerable areas to enable prompt and appropriate community response in the event of a disaster which can help save valuable lives.

Communi ty Level:

Disaster management programme must strive to build a disaster resilient community equipped with safer living and sustainable livelihoods to serve its own development purposes. The community is also the first responder in any critical situation there by emphasizing the need for community level initiatives in managing disasters.

There is a need to create awareness through education training and information dissemination, community based approach followed by most NGOs and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) should be incorporated in the disaster management sector as an effective means of community participation.

Finally, within a vulnerable community, there exist groups that are more vulnerable like women and children, aged and in firm and physically challenged people who need special care and attention especially during crisis. Efforts are required for identifying such vulnerable groups and providing special assistance in terms of evacuation, relief, aid and medical attention.

Management of disasters should therefore be an interface between a community effort to mitigate and prevent disasters as also an effort from the government machinery to buttress and support popular initiatives.

Developing a St ronger Plan:

Given the damage caused by disaster, planned expenditure on disaster management and prevention measures in addition to the CRF is required. The Central Sector Scheme of Natural Disaster Management Programme has been implemented since 1993-94 by the Department of Agriculture and Co-operation with the objective to focus on disaster preparedness with emphasis on mitigation and preparedness measures for enhanced capability to reduce the adverse impact of disasters.

The major activities undertaken within this scheme include the setting up of the National Centre for Disaster Management (NCDM) at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, creation of 24 disaster management faculties in 23 states, research and consultancy services, documentation of major disaster events and forging regional cooperation.

The Eighth Plan allocation of Rs.6.30 crore for this scheme was increased to Rs.16.32 crore in the Ninth Plan. Within this scheme, NCDM has conducted over 50 training programme, training more than 1000 people, while 24 disaster management centers with dedicated faculty have been established in the states.

Over 4000 people have been trained at the State level. In addition, some important publications and audio-visual training modules have been prepared and documentation of disaster events has been done.

Though limited in scope and outlays, the Scheme has made an impact on the training and research activities in the country. Creation of faculties in disaster management in all 28 states is proposed to be taken up in the Tenth Plan in addition to community mobilisation, human resource development, establishment of Control Rooms and forging international cooperation in disaster management.

There is also an urgent need for strengthening the disaster management pedagogy by creating disaster management faculties in universities, rural development institutes and other organisations of premier research. Sustainability is the key word in the development process.

Development activities that do not consider the disaster loss perspective fail to be sustainable. The compounded costs of disasters relating to loss of life, loss of assets, economic activities, and cost of reconstruction of not only assets but of lives can scarcely be borne by any community or nation.

Therefore, all development schemes in vulnerable areas should include a disaster mitigation analysis, where by the feasibility of a project is assessed with respect to vulnerability of the area and the mitigation measures required for sustainability. Environmental protection, afforestation programme, pollution control, construction of earthquake resistant structures etc., should therefore have high priority within the plans Mitigation measures on individual structures can be achieved by design standards building codes and performance specifications.

Building codes, critical front-line defence for achieving stronger engineered structures, need to be drawn up in accordance with the vulnerability of the area and implemented through appropriate techno-legal measures. Mitigation measures need to be considered in land use and site planning activities.

Constructions in hazardous areas like flood plains or steep soft slopes are more vulnerable to disasters. Necessary mitigation measures need to be built into the design and costing of development projects. Insurance is a potentially important mitigation measure in disaster-prone areas as it brings quality in the infrastructure consciousness and a culture of safety by its insistence on following building codes, norms, guidelines, quality materials in construction etc.

Disaster insurance mostly works under the premise of ‘higher the risk higher the premium, lesser the risk lesser the premium’, thus creating awareness towards vulnerable areas and motivating people to settle in relatively safer areas?

Essay on Natural Disaster # 12. Major Initiatives taken by Government of India:

Natural disasters have become a recurring phenomenon in the recent past. In the last twenty years or so three million people have been killed as a result of such events. There is a need to focus and develop a plan that would focus on disaster management planning for prevention, reduction, mitigation, preparedness and response to reduce life and property due to natural disaster.

If we take it in the Indian context, the five year plans have never really taken into consideration the issues relating to the management and mitigation of natural disasters. The traditional perception has been limited to the idea of “calamity relief”, which is seen essentially as a non-plan item of expenditure. Disasters can have devastating impact on the economy and is a significant setback to the development in a given region.

Two recent disasters, the Orissa Cyclone and the Gujarat Earthquake, are cases in point. The development process needs to be sensitive towards disaster prevention and mitigation aspects. There is thus a need to look at disasters from a development perspective as well.

Disaster management may not be directly associated with planned financing, but number of schemes are in operation, such as for drought proofing, afforestation, drinking water, etc., which deal with the prevention and mitigation of the impact of natural disasters. Extra assistance for post-disaster reconstruction and streamlining of management structures also is a major consideration of the plan.

A specific, centrally sponsored scheme on disaster management also exists. The plan thus already has a defined role in dealing with the subject. There have been an increasing number of natural disaster over the past years, and with it, increasing losses on account of urbanisation and population growth, as a result of which the impact of natural disasters is now felt to a larger extent.

According to the United Nations, in 2001 alone, natural disasters of medium to high range caused at least 25,000 deaths around the world, more than double the previous year, and economic losses of around US $ 36 billion. Devastations in the aftermath of powerful earthquakes that struck Gujarat, El Salvador and Peru; floods that ravaged many countries in Africa, Asia and elsewhere; droughts that plagued Central Asia including Afghanistan, Africa and Central America; the cyclone in Madagascar and Orissa; and floods in Bolivia are global events in recent memory.

However, what is disturbing is the knowledge that these trends of destruction and devastation are on the rise instead of being kept in check.

Natural disasters know no political boundaries and have no social or economic considerations. They are borderless as they affect both developing and developed countries. They are also merciless, and as such the vulnerable tend to suffer more at the impact of natural disasters.

For example, the developing countries are much more seriously affected in terms of the loss of lives, hardship borne by population and the percentage of their GNP lost. Since number of the most vulnerable regions is in India, natural disaster management has emerged as a high priority for the country.

Going beyond the historical focus on relief and rehabilitation after the event, we now have to look ahead and plan for disaster preparedness and mitigation, in order that the periodic shocks to our development efforts are minimized.

Physical vulnerabilities have a direct impact on the population their proximity to the hazard zone and standards of safety maintained to counter the effects. For instance, some people are vulnerable to flood only because they live in a flood prone area. Physical vulnerability also relates to the technical capacity of buildings and structures to resist the forces acting upon them during a hazard event.

However, physical calamities is not the only criteria, there are prevailing social and economic conditions and its consequential effect on human activities within a given society. Parts of the Indian sub-continent are susceptible to different types of disasters owing to the unique topographic and climatic characteristics.

About 54 per cent of the sub-continent’s land mass is vulnerable to earthquakes while about 4 crore hectares is vulnerable to periodic floods. The decade 1990-2000, has been one of very high disaster losses within the country, losses in the Orissa Cyclone in 1999, and later, the Gujarat Earthquake in 2001 alone amount to several thousand crore of Rupees, while the total expenditure incurred on relief and reconstruction in Gujarat alone has been to the tune of Rs.11,500 crore. Disasters often result in enormous economic losses that are both immediate as well as long term in nature and demand additional revenues.

Also, as an immediate fall-out, disasters reduce revenues from the affected region due to lower levels of economic activity leading to loss of direct and indirect taxes. In addition, unplanned budgetary allocation to disaster recovery can hamper development interventions and lead to unmet developmental targets.

Disasters may also reduce availability of new investment, further constricting the growth of the region. Besides, additional pressures may be imposed on finances of the government through investments in relief and rehabilitation work.

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The Problem of Natural Disasters Essay

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Introduction

California flooding of 2022.

Natural disasters can have devastating effects on an area and its inhabitants, and unfortunately, the frequency of such events has been increasing in the past few years. One such event is the California flooding of 2022. This event resulted from an extended period of heavy rainfall combined with abnormally high temperatures that caused the Sierra Nevada snowpack to melt rapidly, leading to unprecedented flooding in the state. Therefore, this essay will discuss the causes of the California flooding of 2022, the extent of the damage, how the human race can prepare for such future events, and how the event has affected me personally.

The Natural Disaster Occurrence

California Flooding in 2022 occurred due to heavy rain and snow melt in the spring of 2022. That was coupled with a hot winter that caused an early snow melt in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. These conditions created excessive surface runoff that caused flooding in many areas of California. The flooding resulted from increased precipitation and warmer-than-normal temperatures, which caused the snow to melt faster than usual (Kreibich et al., 2022). Additionally, the soil in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains was saturated with water due to the earlier snowmelt. The extra water had nowhere to go when the heavy rains fell, leading to flooding. This flooding was further exacerbated by the lack of vegetation and soil stripped away by the fire season of 2020.

Flooding was a result of hydrologic processes, which are the study of the movement and distribution of water on Earth. The hydrologic cycle is a continuous process in which water evaporates from the surface of the Earth, condenses and forms clouds, and then falls back to the Earth as rain or snow (Kreibich et al., 2022). When this process is disrupted, it can lead to flooding. Additionally, climate change has caused the average global temperature to increase, which has caused more intense storms, leading to more flooding.

Extent of Damage

The flooding in California was devastating in its scope and severity. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (2022), more than 500,000 individuals were affected by the flooding, with over 400,000 homes damaged or destroyed. Additionally, more than 2,000 businesses were affected, and an estimated $25 billion in damages occurred, making it one of the most expensive disasters in US history (FEMA. gov., 2022). In emergency response, there were more than 8,000 calls for help, with more than 80,000 evacuating their homes (FEMA. gov., 2022). Additionally, over 500 medical reports were filed due to the flooding (FEMA. gov., 2022).

Human Race Preparation for Such Future Events

In preparing for future floods, the human race must take action locally and globally. On the local level, governments can improve infrastructure in areas prone to flooding, such as building levees and dams. Additionally, building codes can be updated to ensure that new buildings are constructed with flood-resistant materials (Quesada-Román et al.,). On the global level, reducing carbon emissions is essential to slow the effects of climate change. That can be done by investing in renewable energy sources and encouraging individuals to make lifestyle changes that reduce their carbon footprint.

In addition to those measures, ensuring that the public is prepared to respond to flooding is essential. That includes educating the people on the importance of preparing for floods, such as stocking up on necessary supplies and having an evacuation plan (Quesada-Román et al., 2022). It is also vital to ensure that the required resources are in place to help those affected by the flooding, such as shelters, food, and medical services. Finally, ensuring that the recovery process is well-planned and organized is crucial (Quesada-Román et al.,). That includes establishing a recovery plan that outlines the steps to be taken for rebuilding and restoring affected areas and providing assistance to those affected by the flooding.

Personal Effect of the Disaster

The California flooding in 2022 has had a devastating effect on both my family and me. After living in the Golden State most of my life, I have had a very personal and emotional connection to the area and its people. I remember the beauty of the rolling hills and the vibrant colors of the wildflowers that grew in the spring. Now, all that is gone replaced with a landscape of destruction and devastation. The effects of the flooding were far-reaching, and those of us living in California were hit the hardest. My family and I had to evacuate our home, leaving behind all our possessions and memories. We were lucky that we were able to find shelter with family members in another state, but the loss of our home still weighed heavily on our hearts. Nevertheless, through all of that, I have been able to find a silver lining. I learned the essence of taking care of our environment and the need to prepare for natural disasters. I have also appreciated the support and kindness of those willing to help during the disaster.

The California Flooding of 2022 resulted in significant destruction and hardship. Countless homes and businesses were destroyed, leaving many without a source of income. The economic impact was immense, resulting in billions of dollars in lost revenue. Furthermore, the response from the state government was substantial, providing emergency relief and financial support to those affected by the flooding. Though the damage was extensive, it could have been much worse if not for the prompt and comprehensive response from the state government. Therefore, the human race must be prepared for such events by understanding the risks and damages associated with the occasion and taking steps to mitigate and reduce them. Additionally, it is essential to ensure that the public is prepared to respond to the event and that the necessary resources are in place to support the recovery process.

FEMA. gov. (2022). California Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides DR-4683-CA. Web.

Kreibich, H., Van Loon, A. F., Schröter, K., Ward, P. J., Mazzoleni, M., Sairam, N.,… & Di Baldassarre, G. (2022). The challenge of unprecedented floods and droughts in risk management . Nature, 608 (7921), 80-86. Web.

Quesada-Román, A., Ballesteros-Cánovas, J. A., Granados-Bolaños, S., Birkel, C., & Stoffel, M. (2022). Improving regional flood risk assessment using flood frequency and dendrogeomorphic analyses in mountain catchments impacted by tropical cyclones . Geomorphology, 396 , 108000. Web.

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• What are the Causes of Natural Disasters?

Introduction to Natural Disaster

Large-scale geological or meteorological phenomena that have the potential to cause loss of life or property are considered natural disasters. Studying past natural disasters is the best technique to predict when future ones will happen. This provides critical data to scientists about the events surrounding disasters. It helps in the understanding of the natural processes behind disasters by scientists.

The causes of hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding are now well understood by scientists. But it's far more difficult to predict things like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Avalanches, droughts, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and wildfires are a few examples of the various forms of natural disasters. We're going to take a closer look at the forecast and prevention of typical natural disasters.

Natural Disaster

What are natural disasters.

A natural disaster is described as "a big event caused by Earth's natural processes that causes widespread destruction of the environment and loss of lives."

A natural hazard often precedes a natural disaster. The Gujarat Earthquake, which happened on January 26, 2001, is an example of a natural disaster. The natural hazard is found beneath the state of Gujarat's active fault lines.

Causes of Natural Disasters

The main causes of natural disasters are tectonic shifts, lunar activities, deforestation, soil erosion, air pressure, ocean currents, pollution, global warming, mining, seismic waves, etc.

Agricultural practices, mining, deforestation, etc., can lead to landslides. Plants and animals can also be damaged by wildfires.

What is Predicting Natural Disasters?

Natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, and flooding cannot be stopped. However, there are still ways to reduce the damage caused by natural disasters. Prediction and warning systems, education, preparation, and public awareness can minimise the consequences of a natural disaster on communities. Property and natural resources can be secured when a warning of an approaching disaster can be given well in advance, as it can for some riverine floods, wildfires, and hurricanes.

Reducing the Impact of Natural Disasters

Some natural disasters cannot be prevented. They are uncontrollable by people because of the natural factors that cause them. However, there are several strategies to minimise their consequences, including planning for natural disasters, preventing them where possible, and reducing how they affect people.

There are two basic approaches to reducing the effects of natural disasters . A disaster can be predicted through warning systems, and the difficulties it causes can be resolved with the aid of relief organisations. The deaths caused by natural disasters can potentially be avoided with careful planning. People should decide not to construct cities, for instance, around active volcanoes, earthquake zones, or floodplains.

Scientists from around the world have developed some preliminary calculations to help us predict when, where, and how strongly another earthquake, tsunami, volcano eruption, or any other natural disaster will occur.

Which Natural Disasters Can be Forecasted?

A natural disaster is an unanticipated, dreadful event that causes substantial damage and casualties. A few examples of natural disasters are cyclones, volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, and landslides. Floods can also be forecast based on river water levels. Floods and tornadoes can be forecast . Based on scientific evidence, tornadoes can be predicted. We can predict when and where it will happen based on historical patterns in records. It is impossible to forecast other natural disasters, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Cyclone And Volcano

Latest Means of Forecasting Disasters

Forecasting is the process of analysing data that has been gathered over a long period and using it to develop a strategy to "predict the likely weather" and its effects.

In the field of forecasting, the method has advanced much like how algorithms are developed in programming languages that can efficiently analyse a massive amount of data, process the outputs, and generate predictions.

The GIS system's data collection aids in both preparing for and responding to natural disasters.

Solutions to Prevent Natural Disasters

Technology has made great strides in predicting the onset of natural disasters. But it's impossible to stop the harm these catastrophes cause. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the different kinds of natural disasters and the techniques of disaster management can help individuals better cope with such situations.

Finding solutions to lessen the negative effects of natural disasters is essential because it is impossible to prevent their occurrence.

Strategies to Minimise the Impact of Serious Natural Disasters

Here are some strategies to minimise the impact of serious natural disasters

Assembling medical supplies for emergencies and monitoring weather updates

Building shelters and stocking food supplies are risk mitigation strategies.

Purchasing cutting-edge equipment to make precise weather forecasts

Evacuating more disaster-prone areas

Reforestation

Economic assistance

Public awareness

Some Natural Calamities

Here you will get the answer to questions like name some natural calamities . Natural disasters can be categorised in different ways as following

Geological Disasters - Geological disasters are uncontrolled events that come from changes in the earth, either above or below the surface. Earthquakes, Volcanic Eruptions, Avalanches, Landslides, and Sinkholes.

Geological Disasters

Hydrological Disasters - A sudden and severe incident known as a "hydrological disaster" is a situation that results from a change in the quality, distribution, or movement of water below the surface or in the atmosphere. Ex. Tsunami, Flood, and Limnic Eruption.

Hydrological Disasters

Meteorological Disasters - Extreme weather conditions like rain, snow, or drought are frequently to blame for meteorological disasters. These have an impact on the formation of weather and the atmosphere of the world. Cyclonic Storms, Drought, Cold Waves, Heat Waves, Blizzards, Tornadoes, and Hailstorms.

Meteorological Disasters

Disasters are sudden events that significantly harm people, property, and societal components of a country or community. A natural disaster is an unimaginable, dangerous event that causes substantial damage and casualties. A natural disaster is an unforeseen, terrible event that results in significant damage and casualties. Cyclones, volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, and landslides are a few examples of natural disasters. Some disasters, like tornadoes, are predictable.

Globally, scientists are developing some preliminary calculations that will help us predict when, where, and how strong another earthquake, tsunami, volcano eruption, or any other natural disaster will occur. However, the world currently lacks totally precise technology. In this article, we have covered all the reducing impacts of natural disasters.

FAQs on What are the Causes of Natural Disasters?

1. What kinds of natural disasters might you expect in India?

India frequently experiences natural disasters like earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, and flash floods.

2. Which organisation takes care of natural disasters?

Natural Disaster Management Office(NDMO) takes care of and watches natural disasters.

3. What are the two main types of disasters?

The two main types of disasters are Natural disasters and man-made disasters. Typically, weather-related and geological occurrences including droughts, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and severe temperatures are linked to natural disasters. Crime, arson, civil unrest, terrorism, war, biological/chemical threat, cyberattacks, etc. are examples of man-made disasters.

Essay on Drought for Students and Children

500+ words essay on drought.

Drought is a dangerous condition which decreases the quality of life. It is termed as a natural disaster with harmful effects. A drought usually occurs when a region faces a shortage of water. This is mainly due to lesser rainfalls. In addition, droughts have proven to be fatal for mankind and wildlife as well.

Moreover, drought is the most dangerous for a farmer. As they do not have an ample supply of water, their crops dry out. This becomes a reason for worry as it is their sole income. Furthermore, drought also leads to various other problems for the environment and mankind.

Causes of Drought

Drought is caused due to various reasons. One of the main reasons is deforestation . When there will be no trees, the water on land will evaporate at a faster rate. Similarly, it lessens the soil capacity to hold water resulting in evaporation. Moreover, lesser trees also mean lesser rainfall which eventually leads to drought.

Furthermore, as the climate is changing, the water bodies are drying up. This results in a lower flow of surface water. Therefore, when the rivers and lakes will dry out, how will the people get water? In addition, global warming is a major cause of this. The greenhouse gas emitted causes the earth’s temperature to rise. Thus, it results in higher evaporation rates.

Subsequently, excessive irrigation is also a great cause of droughts. When we use water irresponsibly, the surface water dries up. As it does not get ample time to replenish, it causes drought.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Impact of Drought

Drought is a serious disaster which impacts the whole of mankind, wildlife, and vegetation greatly. Moreover, a region which experiences drought requires a lot of time to recover from the disaster. It is a severe condition which interferes with the quality and functioning of life.

Most importantly, the agriculture sector suffers the most at the hands of drought. For instance, farmers face a loss of crop production, livestock production. Moreover, they experience plant disease and wind erosion. Similarly, they also have to face heavy financial losses. Their financial condition worsens and they end up in debt. This also leads to higher rates of depression and suicides.

Furthermore, wildlife also suffers. They do not get sources of water to drink from. In addition, when forest fires happen due to droughts, they also lose their habitats and life. Just like any natural disaster , droughts also result in inflation of prices. The basic products become expensive. The poor people do not get access to essential foods due to high rates. Subsequently, droughts also degrade the quality of the soil. This result in poor or no yielding of crops.

In short, drought is definitely one of the most catastrophic natural disasters. It causes loss of life, vegetation and gives rise to other deadly problems like famine. The citizens and government must join hands to prevent droughts to save thousands of lives. This joint effort can help save the world from such a catastrophe.

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/biden-declares-new-mexico-wildfires-a-major-disaster-freeing-up-resources-and-federal-aid

Biden declares New Mexico wildfires a major disaster, freeing up resources and federal aid

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday issued a disaster declaration for parts of southern New Mexico, freeing up funding and more resources as crews worked, under the threat of flooding and lightning, to battle a pair of deadly wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced thousands of people to flee.

READ MORE: Wildfires continue to blaze in New Mexico village, but cooler temps and rain could help

The declaration will help with recovery efforts including temporary housing, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property and other emergency work in Lincoln County and on lands belonging to the Mescalero Apache Tribe.

Residents of Ruidoso, a mountain village, fled the larger fire with little notice as it  swept into neighborhoods  on Monday. More areas were evacuated on Tuesday as the fire ballooned, consuming homes nestled among the the ponderosa pines that dominate the hillsides.

The flames advanced Thursday along the mountain headwaters of Eagle Creek and the Rio Ruidoso with 0 percent containment. Crews used heavy equipment to build fire lines while water and retardant dropped from the air.

“The big concern right now is flooding,” Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford told the KWMW “W105” radio on Thursday. “We got less than two-tenths of an inch of rain yesterday but because of all the burn scar, there’s nothing holding it up. We had flooding already over the bridges.”

An estimated 1,400 structures have been destroyed or damaged, and Crawford estimated about half were homes. Whole portions of some communities were lost, he said.

“These are things that are burnt to the foundations and all the trees around it,” he said. “It’s devastating.”

The rain helped to keep the fire from spreading and high humidity levels and cooler temperatures were expected to help keep the flames in check again Thursday, said Brandon Glenn, with the incident management team that is assigned to the fires.

Hundreds of firefighters have been trying to prevent spot fires, while others are assessing roads and trying to get around to structures and contain pockets of unburned fuel that might flare up.

“It’s a lot of work just getting folks in,” Glenn said during a briefing.

Authorities say a badly burned 60-year-old man who died was found near the popular Swiss Chalet Inn in Ruidoso. His family said he had arranged for a ride from friends but they were unable to get to him Monday since the roads were blocked. It appeared he was overcome after he tried to set out on foot.

On Wednesday, officers discovered the skeletal remains of an unidentified second person in the driver seat of a burned vehicle.

A couple of residents spent Thursday driving around Ruidoso and neighboring Alto, providing reports via social media of what they were seeing. There were neighborhoods where the ground was turned to ash, the trees were blackened and homes were reduced to their foundations, with only fireplaces remaining.

“I am speechless. I’m so sorry everyone,” said Logan Fle, as he drove down one road.

Other homes were still standing, police officers were patrolling and utility crews were working in some areas.

Much of the Southwest has been  exceedingly dry and hot  in recent months. Those conditions, along with strong wind, whipped the flames out of control, rapidly advancing the South Fork Fire into Ruidoso in a matter of hours. Evacuations extended to hundreds of homes, businesses, a regional medical center and the Ruidoso Downs horse track.

Nationwide, wildfires have scorched more than 3,344 square miles (8,660 square kilometers) this year — a figure higher than the 10-year average, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Nearly 20 wildfires burning in California, Arizona, Colorado and Washington state and elsewhere are considered large and uncontained.

The two southern New Mexico wildfires have consumed more than 36 square miles (94 square kilometers).

The cause of the fires is under investigation.

“This is the one that we always feared the most, and it’s hit,” Crawford said.

Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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Traffic engineers build roads that invite crashes because they rely on outdated research and faulty data

Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Colorado Denver

Disclosure statement

Wes Marshall receives funding from the US Department of Transportation's University Transportation Centers program and various state transportation departments.

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“Can you name the truck with four-wheel drive, smells like a steak, and seats 35?”

Back in 1998, “The Simpsons” joked about the Canyonero, an SUV so big that they were obviously kidding. At that time, it was preposterous to think anyone would drive something that was “12 yards long, two lanes wide, 65 tons of American Pride.”

In 2024, that joke isn’t far from reality.

And our reality is one where more pedestrians and bicyclists are getting killed on U.S. streets than at any time in the past 45 years – over 1,000 bicyclists and 7,500 pedestrians in 2022 alone.

Vehicle size is a big part of this problem. A recent paper by urban economist Justin Tyndall found that increasing the front-end height of a vehicle by roughly 4 inches (10 centimeters) increases the chance of a pedestrian fatality by 22% . The risk increases by 31% for female pedestrians or those over 65 years, and by 81% for children.

It’s hard to argue with physics, so there is a certain logic in blaming cars for rising traffic deaths. In fact, if a bicyclist is hit by a pickup truck instead of a car, Tyndall suggests that they are 291% more likely to die.

Yet automakers have long asserted that if everyone simply followed the rules of the road, nobody would die. Vehicle size is irrelevant to that assertion.

My discipline, traffic engineering , acts similarly. We underestimate our role in perpetuating bad outcomes, as well as the role that better engineering can play in designing safer communities and streets.

Millions of road deaths

How bad are the bad outcomes? The U.S. has been tracking car-related road deaths since 1899. As a country, we hit the threshold of 1 million cumulative deaths in 1953, 2 million in 1975 and 3 million in 1998. While the past several years of data have not yet been released, I estimate that the U.S. topped 4 million total road deaths sometime in the spring of 2024.

How many of those are pedestrians and bicyclists? Analysts didn’t do a great job of separating out the pedestrian and cyclist deaths in the early years , but based on later trends, my estimate is that some 930,000 pedestrians and bicyclists have been killed by automobiles in the U.S.

How many of those deaths do we blame on big cars or bad streets? The answer is, very few.

As I show in my new book, “ Killed by a Traffic Engineer: Shattering the Delusion that Science Underlies our Transportation System ,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration calls road user error the “ critical reason” behind 94% of crashes, injuries and deaths .

Crash data backs that up.

Police investigate crashes and inevitably look to see which road users, including drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, are most at fault. It’s easy to do because in almost any crash, road user error appears to be the obvious problem.

This approach helps insurance companies figure out who needs to pay. It also helps automakers and traffic engineers rationalize away all these deaths. Everyone – except the families and friends of these 4 million victims – goes to sleep at night feeling good that bad-behaving road users just need more education or better enforcement.

But road user error only scratches the surface of the problem.

Who creates dangerous streets?

When traffic engineers build an overly wide street that looks more like a freeway , and a speeding driver in a Canyonero crashes, subsequent crash data blames the driver for speeding.

When traffic engineers provide lousy crosswalks separated by long distances , and someone jaywalks and gets hit by that speeding Canyonero driver, one or both of these road users will be blamed in the official crash report.

And when automakers build gargantuan vehicles that can easily go double the speed limit and fill them with distracting touchscreens , crash data will still blame the road users for almost anything bad that happens.

These are the sorts of systemic conditions that lead to many so-called road user errors. Look just below the surface, though, and it becomes clear that many human errors represent the typical, rational behaviors of typical, rational road users given the transportation system and vehicle options we put in front of them.

Look more deeply, and you can start to see how our underlying crash data gives everyone a pass but the road users themselves. Everyone wants a data-driven approach to road safety, but today’s standard view of crash data lets automakers, insurance companies and policymakers who shape vehicle safety standards off the hook for embiggening these ever-larger cars and light-duty trucks.

It also absolves traffic engineers, planners and policymakers of blame for creating a transportation system where for most Americans, the only rational choice for getting around is a car .

Understanding road behavior

Automakers want to sell cars and make money. And if bigger SUVs seem safer to potential customers, while also being much more profitable , it’s easy to see how interactions between road users and car companies – making seemingly rational decisions – have devolved into an SUV arms race.

Even though these same vehicles are less safe for pedestrians, bicyclists and those in opposing vehicles , the current data-driven approach to road safety misses that part of the story.

This can’t all be fixed at once. But by pursuing business as usual, automakers and traffic engineers will continue wasting money on victim-blaming campaigns or billboards placed high over a road telling drivers to pay attention to the road .

A better starting point would be remaking the U.S.’s allegedly data-driven approach to road safety by reinventing our understanding of the crash data that informs it all.

The key is starting to ask why. Why did these road users act as they did? Why didn’t they follow the rules that were laid out for them? Bad road user behavior shouldn’t be excused, but a bit of digging below the surface of crash data unearths a completely different story.

Figuring out which road user is most at fault may be useful for law enforcement and insurance companies, but it doesn’t give transportation engineers, planners, policymakers or automakers much insight into what they can do better. Even worse, it has kept them from realizing that they might be doing anything wrong.

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Titanic sub deaths: Navy captain reveals what could have caused Titan submersible to implode

Former Royal Navy submarine captain Ryan Ramsey says one of two things happened with the same result - the collapse of the Titan's hull.

Foreign news reporter @MikeRDrummond

Friday 23 June 2023 15:48, UK

A former Royal Navy submarine captain has explained the possible reasons for the "catastrophic implosion" suffered by the Titan submersible on its descent to the wreck of the Titanic.

All five people on board are now believed to have lost their lives in the catastrophe after debris from the vessel was discovered on Thursday.

Former captain Ryan Ramsey told Sky News that disregarding standard ways of building submersibles "in pursuit of innovation" in the case of Titan has huge risks, and in this case saw the deaths of five people.

Victims' remains may be left 'in peace' - Titanic sub search latest updates

He believes that one of two things happened:

• The hatch with bolts used to seal the crew in from the outside suffered a failure that caused the hull to collapse

• The pressure hull itself had a defect that fractured from the pressure and caused the same result

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Asked if the "unusual" design of the Titan was reckless, Mr Ramsey told Sky News: "I wouldn't go so far as to say reckless.

"I would say disregarding standard ways of building these types of submersible in pursuit of innovation has huge elements of risk and in this case that risk has been realised in the loss of people's lives."

Mr Ramsey, who captained nuclear attack submarine HMS Turbulent, said that the industry will likely tighten regulation and close the possible "loophole" that existed in the case of Titan.

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When asked about the safety of the sub, Mr Ramsey said that lessons needed to be learned, and that questions remained.

"I think for what's happened here hopefully they will recover some parts of the hull and they will be able to work out whether it was the pressure vessel that likely imploded or whether it was the hatch and they will learn lessons from that," he said.

OceanGate, which owned the Titan submersible, said that those on board were "true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans".

End of 'extreme tourism'?

But Mr Ramsey predicted that this form of "extreme tourism" would likely be reined in - and he issued a warning.

"All maritime activity has risks because the sea is unpredictable," he said.

"Submarines operate in somewhere less explored than space in something more complex than a spacecraft."

Mr Ramsey also expressed his condolences to the families of the five men who died this week, and said visits to the wreck should stop.

"It's a grave after all and it should be just left alone."

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Essay on Natural Disaster

Students are often asked to write an essay on Natural Disaster in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Natural Disaster

Introduction.

Natural disasters are extreme, sudden events caused by environmental factors that injure people and damage property. They include earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, tsunamis, and other geologic processes.

Types of Natural Disasters

Impact of natural disasters.

Natural disasters can lead to loss of life, economic damage, and displacement of populations. They can also cause environmental damage, impacting biodiversity and ecosystems.

Understanding natural disasters and their effects can help us prepare and reduce their harmful impacts. It’s crucial to educate ourselves and take protective measures.

250 Words Essay on Natural Disaster

Natural disasters are catastrophic events triggered by environmental factors that kill people and cause damage to property and natural resources. They include earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, tsunamis, and other geologic processes.

The Cause and Effect of Natural Disasters

Natural disasters occur due to the movement of tectonic plates, weather changes, and geological processes. Earthquakes, for instance, are caused by the movement of tectonic plates. Floods and hurricanes are usually the result of extreme weather conditions. The effects are often devastating, leading to loss of life and property, displacement of people, and economic damage.

Human Interaction and Natural Disasters

Human activities can exacerbate the severity of natural disasters. Deforestation, urbanization, and climate change contribute to the frequency and intensity of these disasters. Climate change, driven by human activity, is causing more severe weather patterns, leading to increased instances of floods and hurricanes.

Prevention and Mitigation Measures

Prevention and mitigation of natural disasters involve predicting possible disasters and preparing for them. Technological advancements have made it possible to predict some disasters, enabling timely evacuations. Infrastructure can be designed to withstand natural disasters, and reforestation can help prevent landslides and floods.

Natural disasters are inevitable, but their impact can be reduced through innovative technology, proper planning, and sustainable practices. Understanding the causes and effects of these disasters is crucial for developing effective prevention and mitigation strategies.

500 Words Essay on Natural Disaster

Natural disasters are extreme, sudden events caused by environmental factors that injure people and damage property. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires are examples of natural disasters, which nature’s forces have been known to disrupt lives and cause significant damage to communities worldwide.

The Science Behind Natural Disasters

Understanding the science behind natural disasters involves studying the Earth’s interacting systems. For instance, earthquakes occur due to the movement of tectonic plates. When these plates move, they cause the Earth’s crust to break and shake, leading to an earthquake. Similarly, hurricanes form over warm ocean waters and are fueled by the heat and water vapor they provide.

Impacts of Natural Disasters

The impacts of natural disasters are multifaceted and far-reaching. They not only cause immediate loss of life and destruction of infrastructure but also have long-term effects on the socio-economic fabric of the affected regions. Natural disasters can lead to economic losses due to the destruction of infrastructure like buildings, bridges, and roads, disrupting trade, and causing a decline in tourism.

Climate Change and Natural Disasters

Disaster management and mitigation.

Effective disaster management and mitigation strategies are crucial in reducing the impact of natural disasters. These strategies involve a combination of preparation, response, and recovery activities. Preparation includes activities such as developing early warning systems, creating evacuation plans, and constructing resilient infrastructure. Response involves immediate actions such as search and rescue operations, providing emergency relief supplies, and medical aid. Recovery focuses on rebuilding and rehabilitating the affected area.

In conclusion, natural disasters are a significant global issue, causing immense loss and damage. Understanding the science behind these disasters, their impacts, and the influence of climate change can help us develop effective disaster management strategies. As we move forward, it is crucial that we continue to improve our resilience to these events, not only through scientific and technological advances but also by fostering global cooperation and community preparedness. After all, natural disasters are a shared global risk, and addressing them effectively requires collective action.

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Burning off toxins wasn't needed after East Palestine train derailment, NTSB says

The national transportation safety board said in a report on the 2023 train derailment in east palestine, ohio, that the burn off of toxic chemicals wasn't needed. the agency made recommendations..

AKRON, Ohio — The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that burning off chemicals after a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ohio in 2023 was unnecessary, with an agency official later accusing the company of failing to disclose information to investigators.

Officials intentionally released and burned off toxic vinyl chloride from five derailed cars, sending smoke and chemicals into the air despite the potential health effects. NTSB officials said Tuesday that the train operator and its contractors failed to tell incident commanders that the maker and shipper of the vinyl chloride had said venting and burning the chemicals wasn't needed.

At the end of Tuesday's meeting, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy slammed Norfolk Southern's behavior during the investigation and accused the company of delaying or failing to disclose information to investigators. Twice, Homendy threatened to subpoena the company to get the information they were looking for, she said. Norfolk Southern also attempted to submit its investigation four times.

"Parties are not permitted to manufacture their own evidence," Homendy said, calling Norfolk Southern's attempts to influence the investigation "unprecedented and reprehensible."

She noted a recent meeting with a Norfolk Southern senior executive with her and staff that ended with a "threat." Homendy did not name the executive.

Homendy added that she struggled for days on whether to share what's happened between the NTSB and Norfolk Southern, worried that it might overshadow the agency findings about the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment. She ultimately decided to go public because she said Norfolk-Southern's actions were "unconscionable."

"We are impervious to anything but the truth," Homendy said.

The findings came as NTSB officials returned to East Palestine Tuesday to share findings of their investigation into the calamitous 2023 train derailment and offer recommendations to prevent similar disasters from happening in the future.

In February 2023, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in a tiny Ohio town near the Pennsylvania border. Residents initially watched the fires from the crash and were later evacuated as officials feared a potential hazardous chemical explosion, and they executed the vent and burn.

NTSB officials have said an overheated bearing on one of the railcars likely caused the crash, but questions remained about whether that could have been prevented and whether officials made the right choice to burn off the vinyl chloride. The NTSB recommended Tuesday that Norfolk Southern revise its incident report about the derailment to reflect that the vent and burn of vinyl chloride were not necessary.

The agency listed 47 findings from its investigation, covering everything from rail car bearings and DOT-111 rail car failures to melted placards, and outlined recommendations ranging from creating a nationwide database to track overheated wheel bearings, to increasing training for Ohio volunteer firefighters. The recommendations are not binding, but U.S. lawmakers could act to enforce them.

What caused the bearing to fail?

It was impossible to tell what caused the bearing failure in East Palestine because the fire destroyed the components, according to the NTSB. When asked what causes bearings to fail, NTSB Investigator Joey Rhine said when there's a bearing defect, it causes friction, which leads to heat.

"It's like putting an iron skillet on a stove," Rhine said.

But the bearing that failed was attached to a car that sat in a flooded area for an extended time and water intrusion can also cause bearing failures, Homendy said.

Timken, the manufacturer of the bearing, recommends replacing bearings that sit in floods. There was no evidence this bearing was replaced and, Homendy pointed out, there was no way for Norfolk Southern to know because railroads generally don't own the cars they transport.

Most bearings on freight trains in the U.S. are re-conditioned, according to Rhine, meaning they have only about half the life of new bearings. The NTSB has investigated two other train derailments since East Palestine that also involved a bearing failure, he said. Each bearing that failed was reconditioned and in the same axle position as East Palestine, he said.

When investigators tried to find data to see if this was a larger pattern, they discovered that there isn't a single database. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) maintains a database, but it's broken down by car, not train. The NTSB recommended that AAR create a single database to illuminate patterns in wheel bearing failures across the industry. Bearing failures are the primary cause of U.S. train derailments, the NTSB said.

NTSB recommends tank cars with built-in protections

The fire that began at the East Palestine derailment likely happened when a DOT-111 type of train car was punctured, the NTSB said, "spilling fire" onto a 1,100-foot section of track. NTSB member Michael Graham said the breach of those DOT-111s in East Palestine "led to the large, raging fire" that overwhelmed firefighters and ultimately led to the vent and burn.

DOT-111 cars are susceptible to breaching and are due to be phased out for carrying flammable material after May 2029. The NTSB recommended mandating an accelerated phase-out. Flammable and hazardous materials should instead be carried in tank cars with more built-in protections, the board said.

But the scheduled phase-out of the DOT-111 in 2029 will not take this rail car off of America's rail lines. Veteran NTSB Inspector Paul Stancil said that two of the three DOT-111 cars that were part of the East Palestine derailment would still be allowed to carry the same material after 2029.

The NTSB has been raising safety concerns about the DOT-111 rail car since 1991, Homendy said. It recommended changes to the car's construction at least twice. A train with the cars derailed in 2013 in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, unleashing a flood of oil and 47 people died, Stancil said.

"An entire town was literally decimated," Homendy said, noting that 25,300 DOT-111 rail cars are still in service today. "People are dying."

Homendy pointed out that shippers own the rail cars and it's up to them to get rid of them. She also noted that railroads are required to carry hazardous materials.

At least five different chemicals were carried in the train cars that derailed in East Palestine, according to a letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to Norfolk Southern. The chemicals included vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and isobutylene.

Vinyl chloride, which is a chemical used to make PVC pipes, is considered a carcinogen. Exposure to vinyl chloride is associated with an increased risk of a rare form of liver cancer as well as brain and lung cancers.

Burning it, which was part of the controlled release, creates the toxic gas phosgene and hydrogen chloride. The gas was used as a weapon during World War I.

In the days following the train derailment in East Palestine , a group of investigators fell ill while looking into the chemical exposure of residents.

NTSB member Thomas Chapman said he and other members continue to be "mystified" that the American railroad industry, unlike the airline and other transportation industries, continues to largely regulate itself.

NTSB says Norfolk Southern failed to disclose key information

NTSB member Michael Graham said when the decision was made to vent rail cars and burn off toxins, what no one knew, including the incident commander, was that there was disagreement over whether the vent and burn should happen.

The temperatures in the tanks were dropping, not rising, which means the immediate risk was not as great, investigators said. It's not clear why, but Norfolk Southern contractors continued to urge a vent and burn, Stancil said. Norfolk Southern, he said, didn't reveal the declining temperature readings to NTSB until two months afterward.

The NTSB investigation showed that local officials made decisions based on incomplete information provided by Norfolk Southern contractors. Those contractors failed to disclose that technical experts for the company that made the chemicals disagreed with their recommendation, saying no vent and burn was required.

Ohio Gov. DeWine sent out a statement before the toxic burnoff reflecting what Norfolk Southern contractors were telling officials about the dangers at the time. Officials believed at the time that there was a danger chemical reaction would turn tanker cars into exploding bombs, sending deadly shrapnel and hazardous fumes across the areas. People in Ohio and Pennsylvania evacuated the area, many fearing for their lives and safety.

NTSB calls for increased firefighter training, updating placards on tankers

Quickly finding out what hazardous chemicals are on derailed trains in the U.S. is a chronic, recurring problem that's stretches over decades, NTSB members and agency investigators said. In East Palestine, dispatchers called the Norfolk Southern dispatch center in Atlanta to find out what the train was carrying within minutes of the derailment. Norfolk Southern said it would call back, but there's no evidence it ever did, according to NTSB investigator Troy Lloyd. Meanwhile, placards on the rail cars were melted or missing.

One simple change NTSB recommended is updating the standard for placards displayed on tankers showing what hazardous materials they are carrying. The NTSB said the placards now must only be able to withstand weather for 30 days. There are no mandates about the placards standing up to derailments or fires. The NTSB showed missing and damaged placards caused by the East Palestine derailment.

Stancil added that the railroads shouldn't wait for first responders to reach out to them after a derailment. He said the railroads' first call should be to the 911 dispatch center in the area where a train derails, so first responders know what the train is carrying.

Additionally, none of the local volunteer firefighters had hazardous materials training. Two weeks before the East Palestine train derailment, the state of Ohio published a report that said, in part, that the 36 hours of training mandated for volunteer firefighters in the state was an outdated model.

Instead of setting up a command post a 1/2 mile away, as recommended in such cases, firefighters initially set up inside the "danger zone," 400 or 500 feet from burning rail cars without knowing what was in them.

“It's really fortunate that one of the volunteer firefighters from that department was also a chemistry teacher” who evaluated some of the dangers, Homenday said. It wasn't ideal, she said, but it was the "best immediate guidance" first responders had as they rushed to East Palestine from 48 area departments.

The NTSB recommended increasing training for Ohio volunteer firefighters, who often face the same hazardous situations as professionally-trained career firefighters.

NTSB officials pointed across the state line to Pennsylvania, which mandates and funds additional training for volunteers. Time and money is an issue with volunteers, Lloyd said. Hazardous material training can also cost $2,000 per firefighter, plus another $25,000 per firefighter for necessary hazardous response gear. Some states, he said, are now offering incentives to volunteer firefighters, including tax breaks.

Contributing: Max Filby, Columbus Dispatch  

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Behind the Deadly Unrest in Kenya, a Staggering and Painful National Debt

Kenya, the fastest growing economy in Africa, is on the brink of a fiscal calamity. Across Africa, nations are spending more on interest than on health or education.

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By Patricia Cohen and Keith Bradsher

Patricia Cohen reported from London, and Keith Bradsher from Shanghai.

The immediate trigger for the raging protest that gripped Kenya’s capital on Tuesday was a raft of proposed tax increases — additional shillings that ordinary citizens would owe their government. The underlying cause, though, are the billions of dollars their government owes its creditors.

Kenya has the fastest growing economy in Africa and a vibrant business center. But its government is desperate to stave off default. The country’s staggering $80 billion in domestic and foreign public debt accounts for nearly three-quarters of Kenya’s entire economic output, according to a recent report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Interest payments alone are eating up 27 percent of the revenue collected.

The Kenyan president, William Ruto, had promoted the tax bill as necessary to avoid defaulting on the country’s debt, but the violent reaction to Parliament’s approval prompted Mr. Ruto to abruptly reverse course on Wednesday and reject the legislation he had asked for. “Listening keenly to the people of Kenya,” he said, “I will not sign the 2024 finance bill, and it shall subsequently be withdrawn.” He proposed a 14-day period of discussions to chart a new economic course.

Mr. Ruto’s turnaround may have temporarily quieted protests, but it leaves the country’s finances more precarious than before. Just two weeks ago, the International Monetary Fund and Kenyan authorities had reached an agreement on a package of comprehensive reforms and tax increases needed to get the country on a more stable financial footing.

The policy review, required when the I.M.F. lends money to distressed nations, warned of a “significant shortfall in tax collection” and a deteriorating fiscal outlook. I.M.F. lending to the troubled East African nation now totals $3.6 billion.

The type of debts that are causing misery in Kenya can be found across Africa. More than half the people on the continent live in countries that spend more on interest payments than they do on health or education.

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